- Intense, marbled ham, like Iberico
- Dry cured for over 2 years
- Rare breed, saved from the brink
Cured for over two years, this ham is very much like Spanish Jamon Iberico. It has the same ruby red meat and complex flavor, since the Mangalica is a cousin of the venerable Iberico pig native to Spain. Sliced thinly and served with a glass of good wine, there are very few better hams in the world.Mangalica is made from the curly haired Mangalica pig, outfitted to survive the frigid winters of the Hungarian steppe. Due to the efforts of an visionary Spanish ham producer, this pig has been snatched from the brink of extinction. Now, for the first time, we can enjoy excellent Mangalica cured ham in America.
In the last years of the Twentieth Century there were only about 200 Mangalica (mahn-gah-lee-tza) left, only 30 of which were breeding sows. Because of industrialization, and the ravages of war, this big hearty pig could only be found on a few farms in the remote steppes of Hungary. In 1991 they were discovered by Juan Vicente Olmos Liorente, chairman of Jamones Monte Nevado, a Spanish ham producer. He saw the beauty of these old fashioned, fatty pigs from the perspective that only a ham expert could have – wouldn’t these pigs make a great ham!
He began to buy every Mangalica pig he could find. In partnership with Peter Toth, a Hungarian agrarian engineer, he entrusted the animals to the custody of local Hungarian farmers who raised them the traditional way. To this day the Mangalica sows are raised in on large clean farms, sometimes even roaming the rolling meadows attached to the farms. In the colder months the wooly snow pigs stay in barns where they live in large groups, under "pig friendly" conditions.
During their lifetime the pigs are given plenty of exercise, unlike ordinary commercial pigs of today. The nurseries are designed to allow great movement for the comfort of the sows and their nursing piglets. The newly born animals have separate feeders, watering troughs, and a heated resting room.
After they are slaughtered in Hungary, the resulting hams are brought to Spain to be cured in the mountain air of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of La Rioja, according to the world famous tradition of Spanish Jamon.
Unlike in earlier centuries when the Mangalica was primarily viewed as a source for lard, it is now prized by gourmets for its meat. The marbled fat is integrated into their muscles, which makes the meat taste especially moist and flavorful, in some ways similar to the Ibérico, but with a sweeter flavor and more supple texture. Like the fat of an Iberico pig, the presence of the extra fat enables the Mangalica hams to cure for extended periods of time without risk of dryness.
The Mangalica pigs have many of the same genetic characteristics as the iconic Cerdo Ibérico, source of Jamón Iberico Bellota, which has roamed the forests of western Spain since pre-history.
While there are pockets in Europe where traditional pigs survived, Spain particularly cherished this tradition by preserving the venerable Cerdo Iberico. Some specially selected pigs are still set free to forage the ancient forests and meadows of western and southern Spain, dining on acorns. The hams produced by the animals are now known by most gourmets as the best in the world. However, these animals are in short supply, and the forests in which they live are not as plentiful as they once were. For this reason, connoisseurs are always on the lookout for an alternate traditional ham.
In modern times, the production of food and particularly meat has become industrialized to the point that the individual animal is often thought of as nothing but an inanimate source of protein, rather than a living creature. Pork has been described as "the other white meat" and engineered to have as little fat as possible – even less than chicken. Since fat is the medium for flavor, modern industrial pork and ham lack flavor.
This is what motivated Juan Vicente Olmos to preserve the Mangalica, a long-established type of pig. The perceptive Spaniard and his associates have raised the animals the healthy and humane way, and through LaTienda.com are introducing to America a new ham from a venerable breed. It is guaranteed to cause quite a stir among connoisseurs of Spanish ham.
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