The Truth About Jamon

Vs.

Serrano Ham is good and Iberian Ham even better, but sometimes, an American girl like me needs a little bacon in her life. Lately, I've really been craving bacon. And Madrid restaurants haven't been providing the goods. Sure, many of them have bacon on the menu, but none of them serve up the perfectly rendered and crisp strips of smoky pork belly I require. It is as if no one has ever told the cooks in Spain that bacon is at its best when it's caramelized and crisp (level of crispness based on diner preference, of course), because what passes for bacon here is slightly warmed, completely uncaramelized and flabby. NO BUENO!

Yesterday, I decided to take matters into my own hands and went to the grocery store to buy some bacon and make it my own damn self. I was in the midst of comparing the tried-and-true Oscar Mayer versus the store brand, Carrefour (some of you may think that this decision is a no-brainer, but I've grown to really like the Carrefour Express grocery stores and was willing to give their bacon a try), but before I could choose, some Madre wandering around the store looking for someone on which to dump her unsolicited advice, decided I needed some help:

Madre: That's not jamon {ham}, you know.

Me: Yes, I know.

Madre: It has a lot of fat. It's not good for you.

Me: Yes, I know.

Madre: You'll pay the price. (Whether she meant the actual price at the register or the price of my health is a bit unclear, but irrelevant to my point.)

Me: Ah! Okay. Thank you.

Now, at this point I just wanted to high-tail it out of the store because the bacon I've been imagining myself eating for weeks was now within grasp. So I left Madre and Carrefour and did just that. Only after I had supped on bacony-laced food items over the remainder of the day did I get to thinking about the incident at the store again. Sure, it bothered me a little that this perfect stranger would approach me and share what was on her mind, but what bothered me even more was the misguided thought behind it:

She thinks jamon is healthy!

I channeled my anger, not at the Madre for being such a busy-body, but to find out if, in fact, ham is healthier than bacon.

I will let the data speak for itself:

1 oz. serving of Serrano Ham / 1.2 oz. serving of Bacon (1-2 slices)

Calories: 80 / 50

Total Fat: 6 g / 4 g

Saturated Fat: 2.5 g / 2 g

Cholesterol: 17 mg / 15 mg

Sodium: 625 mg / 270 mg

Protein: 8 g / 4 g

(Sources: http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-wegmans-serrano-ham-i93062 and http://brands.kraftfoods.com/oscarmayer/main.aspx?s=product&m=product/product_display&Site=1&Product=4470002049> )

So who's paying the price, Grandma!? Excuse me, but I think this girl has some more bacon to fry up.

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P.S. -- Bacon Tasting Analysis: The Carrefour brand of bacon was good flavor-wise and crispness-wise, but a little too thin for me. Next time, I'll go for the Oscar Mayer.

P.S. -- Sorry I haven't posted in a while, people! School projects have dominated lately and I've been swamped with work in preparation for the Christmas Holiday (December 20-January 7, 'round these parts). I hope to make up for my lack of posts in the next few weeks, where I'll tell you all about Valencia, Brussels/Bruges/Amsterdam, Barcelona and a few more hot spots in and around Madrid. Stay tuned!