By RAPHAEL MINDER
The New York Times
JABUGO, Spain – On a vast farm dotted with oak and cork trees, about 350 pigs are enjoying the final weeks of a short but blissful life. They roam freely, sleep outdoors or shelter in spacious pigsties. Above all, autumn is when they get to feast all day on acorns recently fallen from the trees.
“Pigs are known for eating everything, but when it comes to their favorite acorns, they are real connoisseurs and very selective — and the sweeter the acorn, the better,” said Juan Carlos Domínguez Lorenzo, 49, who was born on the farm and has been looking after its pigs since he was a teenager.
The way these pigs of Spain’s Ibérico breed are fed and raised here is a far cry from how most meats are produced almost anywhere, making the cured ham a delicacy prized for its unique texture and taste.
Today, Spain’s Ibérico hams are increasingly sought after worldwide, particularly among Chinese consumers concerned about the safety of their own homegrown food.
“Spanish ham is a very unique product, but it’s also seen as healthy, which is a real asset when you’re selling to the Chinese,” said Oliver Win of Olivier Pacific Ltd., a fine foods distribution company based in Hong Kong that imports the Cinco Jotas brand of Spanish ham.
A single leg of the finest ham from Cinco Jotas — weighing about 8 kilograms — costs about $670 in Spain. (In the United States, the price is about double.) Even the way the ham is sliced is considered something of an art form.
“This ham is as natural as food can get — no added heavy metals, preservatives or colorings — and it comes from an animal that has built up muscle by eating the best food and exercising a lot in beautiful surroundings,” said José Gómez, the owner of Joselito, another top brand of ham. “There are thousands of products that present a higher cancer risk.”
With a passion for pork products, and rising incomes, the Chinese have entered the market for Ibérico hams with gusto, even while paying slightly more for Spanish ham than prices set for the U.S. market. The next step, according to Spanish producers, is to get China to lift a cumbersome restriction that forces them to remove the bone from the leg.
In fact, the Chinese appetite for Spanish pork stretches all the way down its production chain, including innards that Spanish companies struggle to export to many Western countries.
Fresh pork exports to China from Spain — including heads, ears and other parts — rose 35 percent in 2014, making it the second-largest market in volume after neighboring France, according to figures from the Spanish Meat Export Office.
In 2014, Fosun, one of China’s largest financial and industrial conglomerates, bought a stake in the parent company of Cinco Jotas, one of Spain’s top brands of Ibérico ham, which is based in Jabugo.
“We generally think that our culture is closer to that of America, but when it comes to ham, Chinese gastronomy is really in tune with ours,” Bernardino Rodríguez, the general director of Cinco Jotas said.
“I can’t think of anybody more capable of distinguishing between different qualities of ham than the Chinese,” he said.
The finest Ibérico ham is produced in southwestern Spain, a region that also has strong weather changes.
“If you don’t have the right climate, you simply can’t produce,” Gómez of Joselito said. “Ham is a bit like wine, because several small steps and adjustments make all the difference between an average product and premium quality.”
The growing Chinese fascination with the hams has also been helped by an increase in Chinese visitors to Spain, where they have the opportunity to taste firsthand the country’s wide array of pork-related gastronomy.
“We open at 1 p.m., and the first clients who then cross the door are now almost certainly Chinese,” said José María Ruiz Benito, the owner of the eponymous José María restaurant in Segovia, famous for its roasted suckling pig.
As a result, some producers are also wary about sharing their skills with China, noting that a few years ago Spain already had to pressure Chinese authorities to stop some producers from breaching copyright rules by labeling their ham as “Jabugo.”
“My worry is that the Chinese are willing to import today so that they can work out how to produce their own great ham tomorrow,” said Ricardo Sánchez, managing director of Arturo Sánchez, a Spanish producer.
“I make everything right for these pigs, and if that work is recognized on the other side of the world, that’s just fine,” said Domínguez, the farmer.
He then turned toward his pigs and produced a loud “tuueeeeh!” to draw their attention, before leading them, almost like a shepherd, in search of freshly fallen acorns.