Rearing the Iberian pig

The experience of pig breeders in recent years has led them to provide these animals with a more balanced diet. Nowadays Iberian pigs begin to eat acorns when they are less than ten months old. Prior to this, so that their skeletons develop properly and their progress is balanced, after weaning and during the rearing period these pigs are fed with very high quality select fodder. Only in this way can quality animals of ideal weight be obtained so that they can reach the montanera (see below) in perfect condition. The food given to the Iberian pig is so important that it has a decisive influence on the quality of its ham and other derived products. The type and quality of cork oak acorns fed to the pigs is vital. The relationship between the acorns and the grass, together with the number of pigs that feed in a certain area of pastureland, also has its effect.

This means that each group of pigs has its own characteristics that affect the quality of the deriving products.

The slaughtering of the pig, which had become a ritual and a semi-festive occasion, assured the meat supply for the whole year, but especially for winter when nature provides less food. The days of pig-killing or mondongo in this mainly self-sufficient economy were also known as “abundance for the poor in the winter months”. The story of pig-killing goes back to the origins of the human species, which always made animal food the basis of its diet.

The montanera

This is the system whereby the pigs feed on the acorns falling from the evergreen oaks, cork oaks, and gall-oaks. In consequence, the development of the Iberian pig would not be possible without the existence of these wooded pasturelands. It is here where the Iberian pig feeds, not only on acorns but also on grasses and wild fruits, small mammals and reptiles, snails, slugs, and all kinds of insects, which helps to give the hams their excellent natural aroma and taste. If to this is added the fact that in this habitat the pigs are fully active, it can be understood that their meat is finer, with less superfluous concentrated liquids and therefore more glucogen.

The dehesa

Our dehesas or pasturelands are located both in Cáceres, on the estate “El Punta de Arriba”, and in Andalusia. The daily feed of the pigs, surrounded by evergreen and cork oaks, is based on the acorns of these trees, which are essential for the proper development of the animal.