Presa Ibérico de Bellota salume recipe

This is a Salume you don’t see too often on charcuterie boards in the UK, with the depth of flavour from the Ibérico de Bellota pigs and a little less fat than the Coppa made from the same pigs - it’s a delight.

I was so impressed with the Ibérico Coppa, see Ibérico Coppa, Cabecero Salume Recipe, that i wanted to try other cured cuts from the same pigs. I wasn’t disappointed!

The Presa Iberico is a pork shoulder cut, located slightly lower than the Pluma, somewhere between 1 and 2 inches thick and you can find it at most speciality butchers - just ask.

Ibérico de Bellota pork comes from free range, acorn fed Ibérico pigs from Spain. They feed on grass and acorns in dehesas, landscapes full of holm oak, cork oak and wild olive trees. This diet and exercise lends a complex flavour and a fat that melts in your mouth.

• 800 g Presa Ibérico de Bellota
• 20 g salt
• 10 g pepper
• 0.3 g cloves, crushed
• 0.5 g cinnamon powder
• 2.5 g sweet smoked paprika
• 1/2 meter of ox bung
• 2 g Cure No 2

• Mix all of the spiced together and rub into the Presa.
• Seal in a ziplock back and store in the fridge, turning it over daily, for 14 days
• Remove the Presa and pat dry
• Soak the ox bung casing for at least 4 hours or overnight and run some water through to clean thoroughly. Do not sniff.
• Insert the Presa into the ox bung and tie off at each end
• Pull some butches meat netting over the top ,
• Weight it and note it down!
• Hang at around 75RH and 12 - 15 c until it has lost 35% of its weight. This should take around 10 - 12 weeks!