TASTY SLICE OF SPAIN
This tranquil region is famous for ham, but it’s full of flavours, says Sudi Pigott
SPAIn is rightly prized for its cured ham, but not all hams are created equal. The absolute porcine pinnacle is jamon Iberico bellota from the meadows of Extremadura. It is that nation’s favourite nibble — more than 8 kg is consumed per head in Spain each year — despite the hallowed stuff often costing more than £100 per kilo on the bone. no big Spanish summer party is complete without a whole jamon that can cost up to £600.
Carving it wafer thin — to o release its sweet, nutty, intoxicating cating deliciousness — is considered ered an art form.
Jamon Iberico comes from om the Iberian pig, which is a skinny, dark-grey descendant - of the wild boar.
Bellotas are acorns that t these very special hogs s gorge on between October r and January, and which help to increase their r weight by up to 60 per cent. t.
The Iberian pigs and the oak- scattered pastures they live in are found mainly in n the province of Extremadura, ra, to whose little-known, landscape cape I travel on a ham pilgrimage. e.
Holidaying in the heart of pig country might not sound alluring. Yet I’m staying in the ravishing medieval town of Trujillo, with its storks nesting in church towers, and conquistadors’ mansions.
Trujillo Castle, built on the site of a Muslim fortress featured as Casterly Rock in season seven of Game of Thrones, too.
One of Spain’s most famous conquistadors, Francisco Pizarro, who conquered the Incan empire, was born into abject poverty in Trujillo. Trujillo He was allegedly brought up with the pigs.
My more lavish base is the familyrun Trujillo Villas. We’re staying in Villa Moritos, large enough for an extended family or group of friends. It’s elegantly and quirkily restored: more the home of a wealthy great aunt than a modern boutique place.
Basking in the tranquil, plantfilled garden with a perfect pool and plenty of secluded terraces for quiet reading, bird-spotting or gr grunt o obsessed more what Most enjoying contentedly. to about visitors eat with with a the sundowner, are, discovering it. jamon like and me, I
Ex Extremadura’s fa familiarise a Trujillo gentle Villas gourmet most have us delicious tour devised with to Mon Montanchez cres pro produce. hill and The is is on famed village a castlecrested across of Spa Spain a curing-house cu for its prized — spot pigs. the There’s sign of its th the white, ham winding outside streets. — in most of
tasting. At Casa It’s Bautista packed to we the have rafters a with mummified haunches of carmine- coloured Iberian pig suspended from the ceiling.
Caceres is our next stop, a Roman walled town with magnificent mini palaces and 30 Moorish towers. Many locals are obsessed with the correct etiquette for revering their produce. We learn to taste olive oil properly — warming, swirling and using a whistling action as it slips down the throat. Then how best to eat local sheep’s cheese Torta del Casar, which has been aged for at least 60 days. The foodie protocol is to slice off the top and scoop out the oozing cheese, drizzled with local honey.
THE best way to learn is, of course, by immersing oneself in the cuisine with a local. Back at base, Trujillo Villas’ chef, Rose, gives an informal cookery lesson that evolves into a long lunch under a jasmine-covered pergola. We cook a feast of beef empanadillas picante with smoked
pimenton de la Vera (the peppers are dried over the acorns’ oaks)
croquetas de jamon, a wobbly tortilla, local sausages with sauteed onions, roast pepper salad and excellent Habla wine.
Trujillo’s low- key, rustic restaurants were grilling food over became open fashionable. fires long Eating before out it is inexpensive, around €30 for a three-course meal plus wine. Extremaduran specialities include migas: smoked paprika spiked breadcrumbs fried in pork fat, speckled with chorizo and topped with a fried egg. What was my favourite sundowner? It had to be another plate of the delectable jamon iberico bellota under the arcades of Trujillo’s grand Plaza Mayor accompanied by an acorn beer. Porcine paradise indeed.
TRAVEL FACTS
THE Extremadura gourmet tour costs £130 pp based on four people, with all local travel, food and local wine with lunch and dinner in Trujillo. Villa Moritos costs from £2,145 per week, sleeping eight — book both via trujillovillasespana.com. Ryanair ( ryanair.com) flies from Stansted to Madrid from £40 return.