Chorizo Ibérico de Bellota is the king of Spanish salami. It is made from the meat of black Iberian pigs, which were fed acorns and herbs in the oak grove. Unlike many other producers, Simon Martin is also a breeder and therefore has absolute control over the whole process from breeding the pigs to producing this delicious chorizo.
The peppers "pimenton", which give chorizo its colour, are dried in the sun and then ground to a fine powder (paprika). Only salt and paprika are used for preservation. The natural casing is filled with pieces of meat, fat, and spices and dried in the fresh air for 4 months which gives the chorizo its characteristic rich deep taste and aroma. This salami is really rustic with large pieces of coarsely chopped meat.
Due to the fact that it is in the natural casing, it takes on beautiful and unique shapes. Iberian pig fat is high in unsaturated fatty acids and therefore has a much lower melting point than regular animal fat. The salami should, therefore, be served at room temperature, at which point it begins to "sweat" (the fat begins to melt) and each slice thus becomes the peak of intense juiciness.
