Jamon iberico, where to eat/get?

You can certainly easily buy it in food markets, where there will often be one or more ham stalls, or in specialist jamon butchers or, in most of the towns you name, I expect, tourist shops will also have some pre-packed offerings. However, once you see the price, at least of the top grade "black label" version, you may think twice about simply putting it in a sandwich - that would disguise the flavour anyway. Personally I can't really tell the difference between the grades, but I'm no an aficionado.

Also it will be on the menu in restaurants, but don't expect the highest quality labels to be served in the free tapa. If a place is serving jamon iberico it will make a point of telling you, and the grade (there are four, I think). If they don't mention "iberico", then it isn't, but just "bog standard" normal ham.

York ham is nicer anyway.

I remember having it at an authentic tapas bar where no one spoke English and could not tell the difference compared to the less expensive stuff. I remember seeing meat shops/carnecerias (there is a chain called Museo de jamon) selling it everywhere

If you want to try some of the best Jamón ibérico Spain has to offer, I would recommend you visit "Cinco Jotas" (aka 5J) they have several physical locations in the major cities of Spain. For me, tasting a really good Jamón ibérico is an exciting experience itself, especially if they hand carve it in front of you! Although it may be a bit pricey, it is definitely worth the splurge.

At 5J, you can have them hand carve it for you or they have "already sliced" packages for sale too, but the best is if they cut it for you on the spot. You can also find Jamón 5J at the local Corte Inglés, which is a large luxury department store.

At this level you do not want to mix the jamón with anything else, like bread. Just taste it as is, and a good jamón will always melt in your mouth. Hopefully that is something along the lines of what you were looking for.

Yes, never heard of putting jamon iberico in a sandwich, its a stand alone ham!

I disagree... there's nothing better than this!

A slice of properly toasted pa de pagès -a typical bread here in Catalonia, which can be bought in any bakery-, a tomaquet de penjar well spread -a type of tomato ideal for spreading and which is stored hanging from a hook-, a dash of good extra virgin olive oil -we have many top producers here in Catalonia-, a pinch of salt and abundant pernil ibèric (iberico ham) in thin cuts, better if it has some streaks of fat, and, of course, a good drink from a porró de ví -a typical "recipient" here in Catalonia.

Some background: http://www.infocatalonia.eu/w/2014/01/12/you-cant-leave-without-trying-it-once/

In Barcelona there was a little stand at the entrance to the Boqueria market off Las Ramblas that had both Serrano and Iberico hams. The better the quality, the more expensive. Buy as much or as little as you want. You can buy ham in any market in any city. There’s always the Mueso de Jamon. They seem to be in many cities. Even grocery stores sell it, but mostly that is pre packaged. Some ham, cheese, and some pan makes a great sandwich.

Enric, Thanks! I've been trying to duplicate the tomato bread with ham here at home!

Enric has a point - the world of dried meats does not simply stop at "Jamón ibérico" and there are many ways one can enjoy it, as a purist, I enjoy Jamón ibérico by itself, but of course you can try it in different ways.

With "pa amb tomàquet" as we call it, I enjoy it with slices of Salchichón de Vic, rather than jamón... as you can see one can write books about this stuff ;)

Ahhh, Carlos touched a fibre here, LOL!..... fuet (foo-et) and llonganissa (lee-on-ga-knee-sah) !!!

For newbies, they're both cured meats, often seasoned with spices, including pepper. They can also be bought in any charcuterie -plenty of them in the city. Llonganisa de Vic -a town near Barcelona- is very sought after... and it's far cheaper than the top iberico ham. As pointed, the same procedure: tomato bread and a layer of fuet or llonganissa. Heaven on bread!

And since we're on it... botifarra, that's another great meat product to try. There are botifarres that you eat without cooking, others you need to cook. One very special shop in Barcelona that, even if you don't intend to purchase, it's worth visiting is la Botifarreria, located in front of Santa Maria del Mar church, in El Born area, next to the torch for the memorial of the Fallen Catalan Heroes of the war of 1701-1715 (when the Catalano-Aragonese armies were defeated by the Spanish and French Bourbon armies and the city, and later the whole of Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia were taken, their liberties stripped and submitted ever since to the whims of the Spanish/Castillian Crown).

@jules, since you're unlikely to find "pa de pagès" back in the US, you might want to substitute it for thin ciabatta bread -that's more readily available in many cities across the States- and that's "near enough" to the real thing. As per tomatoes, given that "tomaquet de penjar" can also be difficult to find in your shores, use any tomato you can but make sure it's very juicy (but not watery!). The key is rubbing it against the bread and having the pulp spread.

Also, there's a variation on the Catalan "recipe" of PA AMB TOMÀQUET, which includes rubbing garlic onto the toasted bread before spreading the tomato.... try it but don't use more than one clove otherwise it's too strong.

IMPORTANT for newbies: you rub the tomato against the toasted bread, no slices of tomato, no pure or any other sacrilege like that.

I saw some I-think-top-grade ham waiting to be sliced and sold at a supermarket in Spain. The price was €55 per kg. (about $25 per lb.) in 2016.

Another tip for making pa amb tomàquet, cut the tomato along the equator rather than straight down from the top, that way you get the most juice from the tomato.

Also for good Catalan olive oil, if you are in the US, I would recommend Pons, which appears to be readily available, at least in California.

As a Catalan now living in the United States I understand the struggle of trying to recreate these dishes :)

Yep Ann, but believe it or not that'd be "average" quality for an ibèric... (hey very good nonetheless... it's the range I tend to go for) as the "top" ones you can find in some charcuteries -and we're not talking here about exclusivity or anything over-the-top!- would be more like 130-150€ per kilo (USD $60 to 80 per lb). The over-the-top ones would probably start from 200€ onwards :)

As a curiosity, the most expensive iberico ham is probably the Manchado de Jabugo ibérico puro, from Huelva (Spain), for which only 80 pieces or so are sold every year at a price of 4100€/US$4800 each. It's from the 200 acres pig farm of a Catalan from Tarragona which settled down in that region nearly 30 years ago (more here).

Forget all you've seen about raising pigs until now.... raising pigs for top quality ham is very expensive as it requires many hectares of a land full of oaks producing high-grade quality acorns. The best ham comes from pigs raised in the open and which had fed exclusively from acorns and grass and this growing procedure requires an important investment in time and money. The end result is a marbled oily well-cured meat which melts in contact with your tongue. In the link in my first post, there's an introduction to the different types and qualities of ham (serrano vs iberico, the different parts of the animal where the ham may come from, etc).

For interested foodies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aisYEPCe2eU

One last thing to mention: in Catalan, the local language here in Catalonia (Barcelona, Girona, Costa Brava, etc) the product is called "pernil" (pronounced "par-kneel"), thus one'd be looking out for "pernil ibèric", in the top end of cured hams, or for "pernil serrà", in the medium and lower ends. And since it's been mentioned earlier, York ham is called here "pernil dolç" (par-kneel-dohls), meaning literally, 'sweet ham'.

Thanks all for the input!

Carlos, how much is the cost for the jamon tasting that you mentioned?

@rahmis4ri, you can find the complete Cinco Jotas menu online and they have restaurant locations in Madrid, Barcelona, and Sevilla. A plate of sliced jamón ibérico de bellota (the highest quality) will run you €25, you can also get a smaller portion for €18. The 5J restaurants also serve a variety of other cured meats too that you can try, but the specialty is jamón ibérico de bellota. They also serve full-on dishes and tapas that are cooked using different cuts of jamón.

This might be relevant...

There are plenty of restaurants in Barcelona where you can sample a bit of good ham yet I will focus on one I sometimes go because it combines good cured meat with a great atmosphere: Can Recasens. Note that their ibèric ham is not 5J but it's good enough. I already wrote in another post about the place. Check here and scroll down: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/tapas-in-spain

Just to be clear, jamon iberico is a very specific type of jamon and can be quite expensive. You'll easily find vendors in markets selling it and I do recommend trying some. The price per kilo is very high, but a slice weighs little so your cost is still reasonable for most iberico varieties. But other very affordable jamons are sold all over. You can readily find shops or street vendors selling jamon sandwiches, which use cheaper varieties but are still delicious. Tapas will use more standard jamon unless specifically noted (and priced).

from Enric

As a curiosity, the most expensive iberico ham is probably the Manchado de Jabugo ibérico puro, from Huelva (Spain), for which only 80 pieces or so are sold every year at a price of 4100€/US$4800 each. It's from the 200 acres pig farm of a Catalan from Tarragona which settled down in that region nearly 30 years ago (more here).

same price, 4100€. same person? The world’s most expensive ham