The secrets of carving a perfect piece of jamón

Meet Laura García Vásquez, our amazing jamón carver

Hola my friends, 

I love introducing you to the people on my team who are so dedicated to bringing the flavors of Spain to life at my restaurants, like Mercado Little Spain’s Chef Nicolás López (who taught us how to make the best tortilla and paella), wine director Maddy Maldonado, and our R&D Chef Charisse Grey.

Today, I am sharing a new video from our series The Secrets of Spanish Cooking where you will meet Laura García Vásquez. Laura is a master jamón carver at Mercado Little Spain in New York City. She has one of the most important jobs here—to hand slice the beautiful leg of jamón ibérico (this one is from Cinco Jotas…which we have a great price on at Mercado Little Spain this month!) Laura is a star in a field that is mostly male—she is absolutely amazing at what she does. In this video, she shares a little about the process of getting that perfect slice of jamón, a nearly sheer piece that’s balanced between the meat and that glossy fat. 

You’ll also learn about the parts of the jamón leg (and you’ll find out which part is the most concentrated fat from the acorns), and also the three different knives used to clean the leg, remove the fat, and slice it into those perfect pieces. 

Laura loves to eat her jamón with a glass of Manzanilla sherry, but my favorite is a glass of cold cava! My choice is better, don’t you think? Ok, hers is still good!! Tell me what you think of this video and what’s your favorite drink with jamón?