Guijuelo ham
The Guijuelo ham is another of Spain's gastronomic jewels. Guijuelo is a town in Salamanca, Castile and León, Spain. A well-known municipality in the province of Salamanca for the existence of numerous Iberian ham and sausage factories.
In the heart of the Salamanca pastureland, it has a perfect orography for raising Iberian pigs. A landscape of incredible expanses of holm oaks, cork oaks and pastures in a set of seventy-eight municipalities located in the southeast of Salamanca, adjacent to the Sierras de Béjar and Peña de Francia. Towns such as Ledrada, La Nava de Béjar, Campillo de Salvatierra, Puerto de Béjar, La Alberca ... which together with Guijuelo are especially recognized as manufacturers of jamón ibérico.
The artisanal tradition in the production of jamón ibérico in this area can be perceived by walking through its streets In all these towns of Salamanca you will find numerous shops of the manufacturers themselves. In any of them you can buy an exquisite paleta ibérica of Ledrada or buy the Jamón De Bellota Denomination of Origin Guijuelo.
This prestigious protected designation of origin is one of only four designations of origin in Spain specific to jamón ibérico.
All jamón ibérico covered by this designation meets the specific requirements of the same in the breeding and curing processes.
The production area allowed in the D.O. Guijuelo includes the regions of Zamora, Ávila, Cáceres, Ciudad Real, Los Pedroches in Córdoba, Sierra Norte de Sevilla and even the Sierras de Huelva.
In the production process that includes: salting, washing, re-seasoning, curing and ageing of Iberian products, it is only allowed in a certain number of municipalities in the provinces of Salamanca (Ledrada, Puerto de Béjar, La Alberca, Guijo de Ávila, Cespedosa de Tormes...) and Ávila.
Obviously, all jamón ibérico of this designation of origin is covered by R.D. 4/2014 of the ibérico quality standard.
In the Denomination of Origin Jamón de Guijuelo the following classes can be distinguished:
- Class I. Ham and paleta of 100% Ibérica bellota from 100% Iberian pigs. These specimens are pure jamón ibérico of bellota. The pata negra of the Iberian pigs.
- Class II. Ham and bellota Ibérico paleta from 75% Iberian pigs.
- Class III. Ham and paleta de cebo de campo Ibérico from pigs with at least 75 % ibérica breed.
- Class IV. Ham and paleta of cebo ibérico from pigs with at least 50% ibérica breed.
Labelling of Guijuelo ham
At the slaughterhouse, all pork ham is ibérico labelled and of a certain colour corresponding to the category granted by the Quality Standard for Iberian products.
- Black label. Ham and paleta of 100% bellota Ibérico.
- Red label. Ham and paleta bellota 75% Ibérico.
- Green Label. Ham and paleta Cebo De Campo 50% Ibérico
- White Label. Ham and paleta cebo 50% Ibérico
All hams will have a numbered label that will inform of the type of product ibérico, the breed, the class depending on the diet that the pig has had during its breeding. This labeling provides traceability that certifies the quality of the ibérico product, thus giving quality to PDO products.
Where to buy a Guijuelo ham at factory price?
The best option is to go to one of the shops that any ham and paleta ibérica manufacturer has in your municipality. To make it simpler, we are there. Ibericomio is the ideal online store where you can buy pure bellota jamón ibérico with free shipping throughout the Spanish peninsular territory.
Buying ham in Ibericomio is buying jamón ibérico directly from the manufacturer. That is why our prices are so tight since direct shipping from the manufacturer Ibericomio.es carried out without intermediaries. In our online store we have different brands covered by this PDO.