Acorn harvest failure threatens Spanish Ham

Around our Finca the holm oaks are producing their annual acorn harvest elsewhere in Spain the harvest is failing.....

Pigs bred for Jamon Belota are raised free range in the oak orchards, gorging themselves on acorns that produce the rich flavour and oily texture for which the meat is known.

Photo: REUTERS

The trees, which for generations have provided Iberian pigs with the rich acorn diet necessary to ensure the succulent texture of Jamon Iberico, are under attack from a strain of phytophthora, a fungus with its origins in Australia.

The fungus attacks the roots of the trees, choking off a water supply that has been made scarce by successive years of drought.Experts have discovered at least 500 serious outbreaks of the disease in the pastures of south-western Spain and predict that the situation will worsen unless a widespread forest management programme is introduced."The soil has been eroded, the droughts are getting longer, and air pollution is worsening - all factors contributing to the spread of the plague," explained Gerardo Moreno, a biology professor at the University of Extramadura, who led a recent study.

"The problem is compounded by the fact that the orchards have been over-exploited, leaving little room for regeneration," he told the Spanish newspaper El Pais. Producers of the Spanish product, which can fetch up to 1,500 euros (£1,380) for the very best quality leg of ham, fear their livelihood is at risk.

Pigs bred for Jamon Belota are raised free range in the oak orchards, gorging themselves on acorns that produce the rich flavour and oily texture for which the meat is known."There are huge areas of trees which have been seriously damaged," said Alejandro Hernandez Matamoros, whose family breeds 500 pigs annually in Jerez de los Caballeros near Badajoz.

"So many people rely on this industry that we have to find a solution," he said. "Without acorns, there can be no pigs."

Wines of the Iberian territories

The Story of Catavino

Catavino.net

catar [ka-tár] ES v. to look at, examine; (saber) to taste, sample
vino [bí-no] m. wine
catavino [ka-tá bí-no] .net a site dedicated to the wines of the Iberian Peninsula.

The idea behind moving to Spain began August of 2004, when both Ryan and Gabriella, husband and wife duo, decided to buy a plane ticket to Spain. Now, there are some who may like to “plan” such an adventure, but these two like to live on the edge, daring to fly across the Atlantic to a country they had never seen, speaking a language neither had studied, and creating a life for themselves based on, well, chutzpah! With a few thousand in their back pocket, dollars mind you, Gabriella started teaching English while Ryan scoured the streets for work in the wine trade. After months of coming up empty-handed, Ryan began Catavino in June of 2005 to merely record his frustrations. “For a country that has some of the most incredible and diverse wine in the world, why can’t I find anything comprehensive to educate myself!” he would say.

And then came the lightbulb…

Now based in Barcelona, Spain, the two have founded a company that does just what Ryan begged for, a comprehensive website dedicated to Spanish and Portuguese wine.