Serrano Ham – Good to the Last Bite!

My holiday Jamon Serrano has been a treat for so many people for almost three months. I’ve made dozens of gourmet dishes with it and served it to lots of guests. Many bags were filled with slices of Serrano and shared with friends and family members.

David finished slicing off the last piece of Serrano this past week and I discarded the bone, probably prematurely. I could have sawed it into several lengths and boiled it for making broth, soup, stews and many other tasty dishes. If you have ever used a leftover bone from your Jamon Serrano, please let me know how you did it.

Almost any recipe you make with ham can be made with Jamon Serrano, the premier ham from Spain. My Serrano came from Felipe Motta Wine Store in Panama City, Panama and it sat on the top of my buffet for almost 2 months, no refrigeration is needed. It was the center of attention for many gatherings, as most guests had never seen or used Serrano freshly cut from the bone.

Above, you see a photo of David’s creative “Serrano Omelet with Smokey Cheese”. Then, my “Chicken Embeded with Jamon Serrano” served with garlic mashed potatoes. I embeded Serrano and manchego cheese in wafer-thin chicken breast, wrapped it torpedo-style in GladWrap, steamed it and served it with plum sauce. This was one of my favorite dishes using Serrano.

Reflecting on the different dishes I made with this ham, “Celery Seed Potato Salad with Jamon Serrano” was my very favorite. A friend gave me this old Swedish recipe 30 years ago. It was published in the Gulfport Gourmet Cookbook in Gulfport, Florida.

Now, with a little tweaking, here it is again using Spain’s Jamon Serrano to make it my very best potato salad ever.

Celery Seed Potato Salad with Jamon Serrano

4 large potatoes, quartered
2 teaspoons celery seed
1 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2cup Jamon Serrano, thinly slice and julienne
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, hard boiled and quartered

Boil the potatoes, no need to peel them until soft. When soft, drain, cool slightly, scrape off the skins, if you like, and dice them into a large bowl. In a small mixing bowl, combine celery seed, mayonnaise, sugar, salt and Serrano. Pour over the potatoes, toss and place in shallow, fancy serving dish. Arrange eggs on top, garnish and serve.

Other articles about this particular ham are on my blog, you can see how much I enjoyed it throughout the holidays and beyond. We’re expecting a new Felipe Motta Wine Store to open soon in David and I’m sure they will stock these Spanish hams in their deli section. They’ll be hanging from the rafters as they do in the “Museum of Ham” in Madrid. If you’re looking for a special treat to serve at this year’s parties, you might consider getting a Jamon Serrano for yourself. You would love it and so would your guests!
Celebrate!
Cora

Jamon Serrano and the Museum of Ham

While I was in Panama City last week, I stopped to shop at Felipe Motta Wine Store, famous for their deli foods and fine wines. Because it was the holiday season, there were many items available that I haven’t seen in Panama before. There were stacks of wrapped wines, fancy Christmas breads, candies and cakes and huge hams imported from Spain.

The hams were what took my eye, I had not seen hams like that since David and I visited Spain a couple years ago. On that visit, we fell in love with the cana (pronounced con’ya) draft beer and thinly-sliced Jamon Serrano that was commonly served at the hundreds of tapas bars around Madrid.

One day we happened upon the “Museum of Ham”, a big tapas bar, restaurant and ham store located on one of the main streets of Madrid. We later found out there were many such stores all over Spain, a place where locals can sit and enjoy these delicacies any time of the day or night.

This photo shows David enjoying his cana beer under rows and rows of whole Jamon Serrano hams, hanging beautifully from their hoofs. This type of dry-cured ham is unique to Spain and is generally served raw in thin slices similar to Italian prosciutto.

To produce a Serrano ham, it must be trimmed and covered with salt for 2 weeks, then rinsed and hung to cure for 6 months. Finally, it’s hung in a cool place for another 6-18 months to dry. The drying sheds are built in the high mountains of Spain, which is why this ham is called “mountain ham”, or Jamon Serrano.

As soon as I saw these hams available at Felipe Motta, I knew it was exactly what I would get for our holiday season treat this year.

It was a big surprise to David when the ham was delivered to Boquete, he couldn’t believe that I had found such a unique Christmas present to share with our friends throughout the next few months. The white plate of thinly sliced ham is nestled on top a hand-embroidered, antique Spanish mantilla I received as a gift from a dear friend many years ago.

Now, I need to look for some cana beer and our snack time will be complete. If you know where I can get authentic cana beer anywhere in Panama, please let me know.