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<p style="text-align: justify;"> They caught my eye immediately...beautiful pig legs, glistening with fat....that familiar smell...heaven for someone in the ibérico desert!  I was in <a href="http://planetavino.net/2013/01/16/great-eat-and-shop-markets-union-market-in-washington-dc/" target="_blank" title="Union market: Great shop and eat market in Washington DC">Union market</a> and I saw the whole legs first and then packages of cured ham slices that really resembled Spanish jamón visually.  It turned out they were indeed cured 20 months and were from pigs that were American raised but had 50% ibérico race bloodline...so exciting!  Bev Eggleston is the man and he runs <a href="http://ecofriendly.com/" target="_blank" title="Eco Friendly Foods:  Humaine, sustainable and delicious meat!">Eco Friendly Foods</a>, an operation specializing in sustainable and humanely raised livestock.  Pretty amazing operation, but the jamón still had to go through my taste test.....</p>

<!--more--><p style="text-align: justify;">They have a ton more products but I was really focused on the cured ham from the heritage pigs.  I need tot all to him some more to get some more scoop but he said he found the ibérico pigs on an island and then bred them with other races.  He says their race characteristics are very strong so that even with 50%, they still retain a lot of the characteristics.  He explained that crossing them helped eliminate their less economically viable characteristics: slow-growing and small size.</p>

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<p style="text-align: justify;">These are free range animals so they feed off the land, including acorns, but they don&#39;t have an acorn exclusive diet as the "bellota" category of ibéricos would in Spain.  The ham did however have the crystilline inclusions that usually indicated they are acorn fed....a promising indicator of quality!</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">He also had less cured styles, which more resemble speck.  I guess some people are still not turned on to this intense 20-month cure style.  But I think it is becoming more popular.  Not only those who travel to Spain are exposed to it, but you can try it in all the Spanish restaurants cropping up everywhere.  </p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">I was sold!  Bev is a great guy, super enthusiastic and full of passionate bout his products.   He generously provided me with a package to try....I bought some of his bacon, fresh chorizo sausage, and a super interesting porchetta type roll he said was made from head parts.  Really an amazing selection of meats...and I just focused on the pork...there were many more meats and types of poultry available.</p>

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<p style="text-align: justify;"> As I open the thin envelope...I had an initial moment of disappointment.  The smell was good, clean, hammy (!), but it smelled like jamón serrano.  Jamón serrano is cured Spanish ham from white pigs&#39; not form the ibérico race.  It can be quite delicious but there is no comparison with jamón ibérico!  We had let it come up to room temperature so the cured meat glistened nicely. It had good red color, which is good for ibérico, crystal inclusions and good fat marbleling.  Then are my fears disappeared as I layed a piece on my tongue.  It had that disntinctive richness, earthiness, silkiness that comes from good ibérico.  Great texture, very good taste, long finish.  A very nice jamón!</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;"> This is really exciting...US ibérico pork!  Bev says he is the only one working with this race in the US.  I think this has great potential, not only for cured meats, but for fresh pork.   If you have never tried fresh ibérico pork...the difference with regular pork is night and day!  </p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Of course, ibérico pigs raised in the US will not taste the same as the ones from Spain, that the beauty of origen, but they are still really tasty!  Also just as amazing is to find an operation where the animals are treated humanely, this makes me appreciated the products even more!</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">PS.  The bacon and porchetta were amazing too!</p>

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