Jamón, Bar Alfalfa, Seville, Spain
This is a painting of jamón ibérico hanging behind the bar inside Bar Alfalfa, a tapas bar in Seville, Spain. Behind the hams can be seen shelves filled with bottles of wine and sherry (jerez).
These legs of ham are a very common sight throughout Spain, often seen in shop windows, bars, restaurants, grocery stores, and market stalls. They are always hung out in the open to help them cure — some legs also have small white cups on the bottom to catch any residual liquid fats before they drip on to the customers below.
Around Christmas time many people are seen bringing entire legs of ham home for their family celebrations, carried in special cardboard boxes that resemble guitar cases.
When ordered in a bar, the ham is shaved very thinly on a special device, and then served either straight-up or on a simple piece of toast. There are many varieties and grades (and prices!) of jamón, but all that we've tried in Spain has been delicious.
Bar Alfalfa was one of our favourite spots in Seville and we returned twice during our visit in 2017 — it's located in a tiny and quirky corner building, staffed by friendly people and seems to attract a good mix of tourists and locals. All their food was delicious, including their jamón.