he gastronomic customs and traditions that humans have cultivated for millennia are part of our cultures. They are forms of art that have been transmitted and perfected throughout history, and remain in the oral and written tradition. In this way, it is inevitable that the presence of Serrano ham was present in literary art.
Due to popular uses and customs throughout history, the word "serrano" has been used to refer to many types of cured hams in the traditional way. The general public often uses the term to refer to hams that today have their own name, such as Iberico hams.
Join us on this short trip to review how the ham has been important, not only in our gastronomy, but also in our literature.
Old mentions of Serrano ham.
In ancient times, ham was not mentioned by that name, it was not even called. The first documentary mention of ham and the way it is made (cured ham) is due to the Roman general Marco Porcio Catón (Cato “El Viejo”), around the 3rd century BC. C., in a farm manual called "De Agri Cultura". In it he describes the recipe for its preparation.
Also the Greek geographer Strabo dedicates in his work "Geographika", from the 1st century BC. C. a review of the ham prepared by the Iberians in the Pyrenees, although he did not use the term "Iberico ham" to refer to the product. Both Cato and Strabo speak in their books about the "pernil". Estrabón praised this ham from the Pyrenees, as well as the one from the Cantabrian Mountains.
But it is the Roman comediographer Tito Maccio Plauto who includes Spanish ham as part of a literary plot in his work "Pséudolo" (The Impostor), being one of the dishes that the protagonist selects to impress his guests.
Already in the Middle Ages, ham began to be recognized by name around the 14th century. The mention of Serrano ham or any other had a pause during the Moorish occupation, due to Islam's ban on pork products.
But authors such as Juan Ruíz (the famous Archpriest of Hita) with his Ode to Ham, Lope de Vega and even Miguel de Cervantes in Don Quixote, celebrated the exquisiteness of ham in their work. "The one-armed of Lepanto" does not hesitate to recommend this food as relief for the convalescent, in "The Deceptive Wedding". We have no doubt that Cervantes would have gladly celebrated the delights of an Iberico pork shoulder.
The great Zorrilla also makes a mention of high quality ham in his well-known work "La Celestina", in the reference that it is one of the things that should be present in the pantry "so as not to fall into lack".
Serrano ham in the literature of modern times.
The favorable climate of the mountains is what has made it popularly known as Serrano ham to any traditional cured ham produced in Spain, and this custom has been maintained to this day; although in the literature it is almost always mentioned as “ham”, without being more specific.
Such is the case of the award-winning Camilo José Cela who did not skimp on praise: “The ham is enjoyed not only by smelling and tasting it, since the frenzy can appear when looking at it and chewing it. It is a bite of the blessed ones ”.
The 20th century witnessed a famous exchange of sonnets between Spanish poets Rafael Alberti and Cuban Nicolás Guillén, when in 1958 they wrote to each other. Alberti helped Guillén get to Buenos Aires to save himself from the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Guillén sends him a pork leg in gratitude, accompanied by a sonnet in which he hopes he can accompany it with wine. Alberti responds with another sonnet in which he claims to have the wine; I wish it could have been a good cured pig's leg.
Our online Spanish ham shop.
Serrano ham, as well as other cured pork products, has an ancient tradition that is recorded in literature. They are centuries of culture that can be appreciated in the tradition with which it is made and the flavor of the product.
You can enjoy this tradition in our online Spanish ham store, where you can buy top quality hams and shoulders at excellent prices, since we do not have intermediaries. Contact us!