The Gourmet Spanish Food You Can Buy On Amazon

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Spain's cuisine features classic Mediterranean flavors and ingredients, as well as time-honored regional food traditions. Most famous is its iconic paella, and other characteristic dishes include chilled gazpacho, gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp), and tapas mainstays like croquetas and the frittata-like tortilla española with potatoes and onion. Another beloved traditional food is jamón, a dry-cured ham that's similar to Italian prosciutto. Jamón serrano is what people in Spain typically eat, but there's also a more exclusive kind called jamón Ibérico. The good news is you don't have to go to a specialty store to buy it, since the gourmet product is available on Amazon.

We're highlighting the highest-quality type, Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, from Cinco Jotas, a storied Spanish brand founded in 1879 in the Andalusian mountain town of Jabugo. The shoulder ham comes from the front leg of the pig, and is cured with sea salt and aged in the same cellars that date back to when Cinco Jotas began as a slaughterhouse and ham-curing business. Jabugo's mountain air helps dry the meat, which is regularly monitored until it's ready, including by several people whose job is to smell the hams to track their progress.

The thin-sliced, hand-carved ham is sold in 1.5-ounce packets for $37.99 each and 3-ounce packets for $49.98. You can buy just one or several in bundles of up to 12. The price goes up to $300 for a 12-packet bundle of the 1.5-ounce size and $495 for the 3-ounce size.

Jamón Ibérico de Bellota is made in Spain from 100% Iberian pata negra, native black pigs. They're raised free-range and eat acorns that fall from oak trees, as well as wild herbs, fruit, and mushrooms. By comparison, regular Ibérico comes from pigs that only have to be at least 50% pata negra and are generally farm-raised on grain. Jamón serrano is made from white pig breeds that are also raised on farms and fed grain, and it's aged for less time.

The bellota ham has a rich flavor that's sweet, salty, and nutty from all the acorns the pigs eat. It's also nicely marbled because the breed's muscles retain more fat, and more flavorful fat develops in the meat because of how much the animals use their muscles while roaming freely.

Carving the cured meat off the bone is a specialized process that involves using three different kinds of knives, including one appropriately called a jamonero knife, as well as a stand that holds the whole ham. The pieces are cut very thin and small, unlike jamón serrano, which is usually cut into longer, larger slices, and they're typically eaten on their own at room temperature to fully appreciate the flavor. Everyday jamón serrano, by contrast, is often eaten with bread, like in a Spanish bocadillo. It can also be used in other dishes, like classic croquetas de jamón.