Ventresca Tuna and Spanish Serrano ham with braised onions on a toast

Hello everyone! Today we have a new tapa recipe. This one is a perfect warm appetizer for any moment: before lunch, before dinner or midafternoon. It's very easy, so anyone can try to cook it at home, just need a few ingredientes you can find in every market nowadays.

Ventresca Tuna and Serrano Spanish Ham with braised oinions in a toast

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 lb onions
• 8 slices crusty bread
• 1 can ventresca tuna in olive oil (very important 'in olive oil')
• 8 thin slices of Spanish Ham (from Teruel is better)
• Modena vinegar
• Sea salt

Preparation:

First step, because it takes time to prepare, slice onions finely and cook in a covered pan for an hour with olive oil and sugar. The key is a very low heat. Then add the white wine and cook uncovered over low heat fo 30-45 minutes, until you see it begins to caramelize.

Second step: toast slices of bread and spread with the caramelized onions. Then cover with a medium size slice of Spanish Serrano Ham. Cover all with ventresca tuna.

Finally, sprinkle with a few grains of salt and a drop of Modena Balsamic vinegar. Serve.

Tip: onions hotter the better.

Sure you and your guests will enioy this real Spanish tapa recipe!

Study of the benefits of Spanish Ham in a group of nuns

The Spanish doctors Avelino Ortiz and Enrique Macia, started a study in 1991 about the health benefits of the Spanish ham (or Jamon). It was really known in Spain due to they used a group of cloistered nuns as one of the studied population.

The study revealed that “when people follow a balanced diet, Iberico pork is not detrimental at all, and help to keep blood lipid levels in reliable figures for cardiovascular health. Eating Iberico pork also improves Vitamin C levels (antioxidant) and decreases the possibility of thrombosis”.

The study was conducted with a thesis, over three different groups: 19 post-menopausal women, 18 men and 18 women with over 250mg cholesterol levels, and 27 cloistered nuns.

We can find the conclusion that Iberico pork (because of oleic acid) and Spanish Jamon, Iberico or Serrano, are really healthy and particularly suitable for diets with hyperlipidaemia and for people who are suffering arteriosclerosis. Pork and Jamon are part of the famous Mediterranean diet.

Spanish Ibérico Ham. The jewel of the Mediterranean gastronomy

Allain Ducasse, one of the most celebrated French chefs today, said of Ibérico ham: “This ham is truly one of the world’s gastronomic jewels”. He serves Ibérico ham from Spain in all his restaurants.

The prestige of Ibérico acorn ham goes far back into history. As early as the first century A.D., the Greek geographer Strabo extolled the virtues of Ibérico ham. The excellent taste of Ibérico ham derives from its ascendancy. The Iberian pig still lives in its original habitat, the dehesa, a mixture of forests and meadows in south eastern Spain.

Iberian pigs feed on acorns and wild chestnuts, gars aromatic herbs and tubers, mushrooms, small insects, even snakes. Their skin is dark, legs are long, ears drooping, and long snout, help pigs survive in this environment. This diet helps pigs gain weight rapidly, mostly fat, but it consists of 5- – 60 per cent oleic acid, the same unsaturated fat fund in olive oil.

Ibérico ham

Has a smooth texture, appealing shine, bright red colour, and marbled with an intense aroma, finishing with an unusually long aftertaste. After salting and stabilizing the leg, aging takes place in temperature-controlled warehouses called curing halls.

Visit our online shop  to buy the best "jamón ibérico" and of course the most refined "Jamón Joselito"


Writer – Hrayr Berberoglu

Spanish Tapas: Jamón de Teruel (Ham from Teruel P.O.D) Recipe

Tapas are snacks, appetizers or canapés original from Spain. These small plates with or without a bread slice, are prepared in many different ways, including a wide range of ingredients. Tapas may be served cold, warm or hot, depending on the cooking.

The original tapa recipe with ham is very easy to make: serve on a plate the sliced and delicious Ham from Teruel P.O.D, for example, warm some toasted bread, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, open a bottle of good wine, relax and enjoy!

The excellent and special Ham from Teruel P.O.D.  it’s exclusive from Spain. The hogs are born, fed and raised in Teruel, a northeast Province of Spain.

          Ham from Teruel P.O.D., www.jamondeteruel.com 

The Spanish diet could be a prime example of the Mediterranean diet, and the Pork Cured Ham is one of Spain's most outstanding food products. The Mediterranean Diet has entered into the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO. First time ever, social relationships are the base!. In Spain we mostly be happy and healthy when eating "jamón" in our diet...

Tapa with ham and vegetables

If you want to buy the best Spanish Ham-Jamón, you are invited to visit our Online Shop. There you will find a wide selection of hams, pork grocery and delicacies from our facilities in Teruel.