La bellota

The basic food, indispensable for a good growth and the food of the iberian pig is the bellota (acorn, fruit of the oak or the cork oak), although that one resulting from the holm oak ( encina ) has a crucial role to determine the flavour of the ham and the rest of the iberian products.

The acorn does not have any specific aroma and the presence of sugars is the reason of its bitter-sweet taste. The iberian pig is attracted by the acorn and due to this attraction, the animal will reach its optimal weight as well as a sufficient mass of fat to reach the level of intramuscular infiltration, which will give to the iberian ham this aroma and flavour so appreciated and characteristic.

The acorn is rich in «oléique acid» and also in other unsaturated acids, as well as in carbohydrates. Grass complements the food of the iberian pig by providing it with the needed proteins.

In this on-going search of food, the pig makes a big physical activity during its long walks, and so it get for its muscles a high degree of consistency and infiltration of the fat in the meat, which are the typical and particular characteristics of the products obtained from the iberian pig.
It’s estimated that the iberian pig can daily eat between 6 and 10 kilos of acorns and 3 kilos of herb.

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