The PDOs of cured ham in Spain

There are 5 PDOs for cured ham in Spain. There are 4 Protected Designations of Origin for Iberian Ham and the fifth is the DOP Jamón de Teruel. This is the first Denomination of Origin for cured ham in our country.

What does PDO mean and what is its importance?

The meaning of DOP is Denominación de Origen Protegida. What does Protected Designation of Origin mean. We are talking about a term valid throughout the European Union that was introduced many years ago to protect and promote the consumption of unique and authentic products. Made following traditional methods of a specific geographical area from raw materials from this same geographical area.

The importance of appellations of origin is that they have made it possible for unique products from regions, counties or unique municipalities of the different countries of the European Union to be known worldwide.

A PDO product is a protected product, a product that undergoes strict controls in its elaboration process and with a recognized quality.

In summary, we could list the following characteristics of a PDO product:

Protección legal a nivel Europeo

Denominating any product with the terms protected by the PDO is prohibited and prosecuted.

Vinculación a una zona geográfica determinada

The production of a PDO product is limited to the municipalities included in the PDO specifications.

In fact, it is common for large multinational firms to establish factories in PDO municipalities in order to ensure that their products are covered by a PDO. A clear example is in the municipality of Jabugo and how the large Spanish pork industries are establishing drying sheds for Iberian hams in this municipality in Huelva. A first step to be able to label their products with this PDO.

Características de calidad y producción

All products protected under a PDO must meet certain requirements in their preparation, which will provide a minimum quality to the product under the PDO.

Etiquetado específico

Hams or cheeses with Protected Designation of Origin will have a special and differentiated label.

Auditoría de producción exhaustiva

Producing under the conditions of a PDO implies a very strict control of the sourcing and production process with continuous audits.

What is the difference between AO and PDO?

The answer is simple: NONE. Denominación de Origen is a shortened way of referring to PDOs,

How many PDOs are there for cured ham?

DOP Jamón de Jabugo 

The PDO Jabugo Ham was created in 1998 with the clear commitment to protect a term and an origin known in all corners of the world; Jabugo ham. This term covers all Iberian hams produced following the strict rules established by the PDO Jabugo Ham Regulatory Council. Regulating Council of the Jabugo Ham PDO for the 27 production companies approved by this PDO.

DOP Jamón de los Pedroches 

The Los Pedroches PDO is the youngest PDO for Iberian ham. It was created in 2010 by a group of farmers and producers, including one of ibericomio’ s associates. The Los Pedroches Ham is highly recognized among Iberian ham experts for its quality. A curiosity: Los Pedroches Valley boasts the largest continuous extension of Dehesa dehesa in the entire peninsula. It has an uninterrupted surface of holm oaks and gall oaks of approximately 360,000 hectares.

DOP Jamón de Guijuelo 

From the youngest DOP of Iberian ham, we move on to the oldest. The Jamón de Guijuelo PDO was born in 1986. One of our producers participated in its foundation . And how could it be any other way, the Guijuelo ham has been present at Ibericomio since our beginnings.

Jamón Dehesa de Extremadura 

Jamón Dehesa de Extremadura is the PDO that covers an entire autonomous community and has a reputation for high standards in animal husbandry and subsequent processing. The Dehesa de Extremadura PDO has been promoting the consumption of authentic Iberian ham from Extremadura since 1990.

 Jamón de Teruel 

We speak of Jamón de Teruel to refer to hams under the PDO Jamón de Teruel, which is the oldest PDO for cured ham in Spain. The regulations of the CRDOP Jamón de Teruel was approved in October 1984.

¿Cómo es un Jamón de Teruel?

The current specifications for Teruel Ham and Shoulder establish that cured hams and shoulders will come exclusively from the Landrace (standard type), Large White or crossbreed of both (mother line), and Duroc (father line) breeds. In any case, they must always be born, raised and slaughtered in the province of Teruel.

Teruel ham is produced only in municipalities in the province of Teruel with an altitude above 800m. The minimum curing period for ham is 60 weeks and 36 weeks for Teruel shoulder ham. The weights of the Teruel hams will be at least 7 kgs and 4.5 kgs in the case of cured shoulders. All the pieces carry an eight-pointed star marked with fire in addition to the corresponding label.

There are more than 30 dryers of Teruel Ham throughout the province and 15 production farms. On our website you can buy Teruel Ham for it, we have selected a very artisan producer.

Cured hams protected by PDO

In Spain we have seen how we have 5 cured hams protected by PDO’s. But the PDO’s as we have said apply to hams from Spain and other E.U. countries. Here are some examples of cured hams from all over Europe that comply with the PDO:

• Presunto Barrancos DOP
• Presunto de Alentejo DOP
• Jambon Noir de Bigorre A.O.P
• Jambon du kintoa A.O.P
• Jambon sec de Corse – Prisuttu
• Prosciutto di Parma
• Prosciutto di San Danielle
• Prosciutto di Modena
• Prosciutto Veneto-Berico Euganeo
• Prosciutto Carpegna
• Prosciutto di Cuneo
• Prosciutto Toscano

All these are the PDOs of cured ham in Spain. After this review of Spanish cured ham in the first 3 chapters of the series, it’s time to get to know the cured hams of Europe. Are you up for it?