Investigation: who and how makes jamon and foie gras in Russia. Home storage

Kublog went to the Tabris supermarket in Krasnodar to buy real Spanish ham (dry-cured pork ham). About what kind of jamon was found on the counters of "Tabris" - photo report Boris Maltsev... How the main Spanish delicacy is made - a story Juana Carlos a.

In Russia, jamon is a rather expensive product, and its consumption is not a tradition (we are more and more specialized in lard). However, in Spain, jamon is one of the main heroes of the national menu.

Juan Carlos Escudero told Cublog what to look for when buying a ham:

“The whole leg of the ham is shrouded in fat. When you start slicing, this layer of fat must be removed.
If there are many requests for slicing and it happens continuously, then everything is in order with the ham. When no one cuts off the jamon within 30 minutes, the fat that was cut off from the top must be put in place so that the jamon does not dry out. When the next customer arrives, the fat is removed and the fresh ham is sliced again.

Be sure to cut off the fat that is on the left and right sides of the ham, because it gives the ham weight. But this is not jamon, but fat. The client cannot weigh it.

In Tabris, where the ham is sold, it should also be covered with a “lid”. But all the jamon that I saw in Tabris were dry. The customer who buys it is not eating a real jamon, he is eating a dry jamon. He also has a very salty jamon, because when the meat dries out, it becomes saltier.
The next client must either arrive 10 minutes after the first, or receive a dry ham. Conclusion: all Tabris customers buy dry and salted jamon.

In general, the jamon themselves in Tabris are good, but very expensive. In terms of price, it is one in six compared to the Spanish price, and maybe even more.

Boris Maltsev, who went to the Tabris supermarket in Krasnodar to take pictures of the ham, spoke about how it happened:

“I visited two supermarkets: Tabris on Stavropolskaya-213 and Tabris on Stavropolskaya-222. In the first of them the price is indicated per 100 grams, in the second - per kilogram.

In the store on Stavropolskaya-213 (formerly the Volna store), they refused to cut me the jamon, they said, buy the cut previously. I left.

In "Tabris", which is located in the area of the University, they kindly agreed to cut it, but when I started photographing, a quite friendly security guard came and tried to quite kindly prohibit the filming. But we kindly agreed not to be with him.

The jamon had fat cut off on the sides (that is, the excess was not weighed), but it is really stored without a film and is not covered with a special “lid” made of fat. The meat on top is really dry and different in color from the inside. "

Continuation of the story of Juan Carlos Escudero - about how they cooked jamon in the old days and how they do it today:

“Jamon is a tradition that originated in Spanish villages and villages where they were farming and growing something in the fields. In order to cope with hard work, people need energetic food. She was jamon.

The pig was raised for a year or a year and a half, then slaughtered. So that the meat would not be wasted, they were looking for a way to preserve it.

In September-October, the pig was salted. Winter was beginning - the leg was hung out to dry. Before that, it was imperative to bleed this piece. Chorizo and other dishes were made from blood (when a pig is killed, nothing is lost, everything is used completely).

And now the winter has passed, spring begins, the temperatures are changing. For example, in Teruel in winter it is very cold and dry, the temperature drops to -20 C. Accordingly, jamon is very well canned during this period. Then spring begins, it gets warmer, but the ham has already lost a lot of water and has dried up. Summer begins with intense heat. In order for the jamon to survive, it is coated with oil or fat, and it will be ready to eat in October, when a new pig is slaughtered and the next batch is made.

This is what our grandmothers did.

Now the same is done in an industrial way. Depending on the weight of the ham's leg, it is kept in salt for longer or less, then it moves from one chamber to another, maintaining the temperature and humidity corresponding to a certain season.

The Chinese people like jamon very much. They copy us, but they do not know the subtleties and technologies. They make it salty, because temperature, humidity and holding time are very important.

The grandmothers knew this so well that if it was too cold in winter, they brought the ham into the room. If it's too dry, they covered it with a blanket so that excess moisture would not evaporate.

There are two main types of jamon - Serrano (white pig, jamon has a white hoof) and the more expensive Iberico jamon (black pig, jamon has a black hoof), it is also called "pata negro" - "black paw".
Iberico is resebo (from pigs fed with plant food and acorns) and beyote (pigs on an exclusively acorn diet).

Jamon is also divided by location (like wine). For example, the famous Teruel jamon (which is not yet in Russia, but we will bring it) is also made from a white pig, but it is a mixture of two breeds - langras and durk. In the jamon lineup, it sits halfway between Serrano and Iberico. The difference is that it has a certain status in the place of origin and the aging period is longer. "

Bon Appetit everyone!

Reference:
Juan Carlos Escudero Regidor is a Spanish marketer and entrepreneur, organizer of the first International Seminar and Salon-Workshop "Spanish Stars", which will be held in Krasnodar from 4 to 10 November 2013.

Juan Carlos is the owner and manager of the marketing company MacArt Publicidad S.L. (www.macart-publicidad.com), he now works closely with Diluvia S.L. (www.diluvia.es). Also Juan Carlos is a co-owner of AZU NEVEX 2009 S.L. company, specializing in the sale of real estate, a co-owner of EDE S.L. company, which exports Spanish delicacies.

01.09.2015

In one of the farms of Pereslavl-Zalessky (Yaroslavl region) they cooked a ham. The experiment turned out to be successful, so now we can safely talk about the possibility of establishing in the near future the production of dry-cured ham, similar in taste and quality to the Spanish samples, right in Russia. Thus, the Russian gourmet is not afraid of any sanctions: what is not allowed to be imported, he will make himself. It only takes a little time and experience.

The Yaroslavl experiment took a total of about a year. The pig, whose leg went to the Russian ham, inherited the genes of the Duroc and Landrace breeds, originally meat, with a low fat layer. They killed it on New Year's Day, December 29, 2014, and salted it the very next day. The entire production technology completely repeated the traditional Spanish.

And, now, after 8 months, the tasting finally took place. Strictly speaking, the dry-cured ham obtained as a result of the farmer's experiment is rather a pallet, since the front leg of the pig was used. They regretted the back one, because no one knew what would come of it, and on the farm it was the first downtrodden pig.

The Knyazhevo farm is not an ordinary farm, but one might say it is typical for modern Russia. Its owner is Boris Akimov, a philosopher by education, and a journalist, artist, musician by occupation. Once he stood at the origins of the Russian version of the Rolling Stones magazine, in 2010 with friends he founded the LavkaLavka company - typical townspeople decided to feed the managers who were sitting in their offices with real farm food. Then they were looking for suppliers with great difficulty. But no one could even imagine that the project would develop, the fashion for farm food would become a craze, the company would grow - now it includes not only points of sale of natural food, but also restaurants, and LavkaLavka itself has long been known outside Moscow. But most importantly, the idea of producing food "on the ground" captivated the creators themselves so much that they themselves became farmers.

By the way, this is a real trend in modern Russia. Economists and financiers, having earned enough money, playing on the stock exchange or occupying top positions in corporations, create their own farms. The experience and skills gained in the past office life allow them to establish all processes, avoiding annoying mistakes, which are often made by peasants who have no experience in management activities.

The farmers of the new wave have excellent taste, they have had time to travel a lot, visit the best restaurants in the world, they have something to compare with and what to focus on. So there is no doubt about the tasters who tried the first Russian ham. And according to their assurances, the product turned out in aroma, taste, structure of the meat itself, the color of the pulp, proportions and quality of fatty inclusions, as well as low humidity, almost a copy of the well-known in Spain "joselito reserve de beyote".

Of course, there is no talk of any mass production of ham in the Yaroslavl region. But the very fact that in 150 kilometers from Moscow the enthusiasts managed to create a delicacy comparable to the best Spanish examples is worthy of attention. This news will allow Russian gourmets to hope that even if government sanctions on the import of their favorite European goods are not lifted - and Parmesan, French cheeses and Spanish ham will still be absent in stores - they will be able to pamper themselves with a Russian counterpart, which is no worse. European producers should think about whether the forced restrictions on supplies will really push the development of agriculture in Russia, and after a while the world will hear from the new DO Pereslavl-Zalessky and gourmet corned beef, which is not inferior to the taste of the famous Spanish jamon? Who knows what the world could become as a result of the new Russian fashion for agriculture. After all, the autochthonous Spanish tempranillo grapes have been grown in Crimea for several years already ...

In August 2014, Russia imposed a ban on the import of a number of food products from the United States, Australia, Canada and most European countries. Under the embargo were not only products familiar to most Russians, but also expensive delicacies.

At the end of June, Moscow extended the sanctions for another year. Thus, Russian farmers and enterprises were given the green light to increase and expand production. And if the volumes of traditional products produced in Russia are really growing today, the situation with delicacies is different: there is still no domestic jamon or foie gras on the shelves of chain supermarkets.

"Reedus" tried to find out whether Russian producers made attempts on their own to recreate the delicacies that had left the market and, if so, how they ended up.

Jamon

Jamon is a Spanish meat delicacy known far beyond the borders of this country. It is a dry-cured pork leg, which, after salting, is kept for a long time in special conditions.

© Boca Dorada / flickr.com

Jamon has a history of more than two millennia. The Cantabrian peoples salted pork meat and hung it from the ceiling in cellars. There the hams “ripened” throughout the winter, acquiring a unique taste and aroma. Dried pork was excellently stored, it could be transported over long distances, used as food for sailors. The fame of jamon quickly spread throughout the country, and then Europe. In the 18th century, jamon was already sold through the Spanish colonies on all continents.

In modern Spain, jamon is produced throughout the country, except for the coast. This product bears a special quality mark, confirming that it is manufactured in a specific province and adheres to the same local standards. Impressive pork hams can be seen hanging from the ceiling in almost any Spanish restaurant, and jamon is also often found in local shops.

© Robert Young / flickr.com

Similar meat delicacies are produced in other countries. For example, in Italy, dry-cured pork ham is called prosciutto. The products have a similar production technology, however, the jamon usually matures longer.

What is called jamon in Spain was also produced in pre-revolutionary Russia. Moreover, dry-cured meat was even exported, for example, to the UK.

Today in Russia such a product is practically not produced. At least on some serious scale, allowing you to supply it to stores or even just sell it. However, in one of the capital's establishments this summer they offered to taste their own jamon.

"Friends! Today we officially open our new "Bread" at 12 Tverskaya / str2. Today I will work as a bartender: I will pour a glass of VillaAntinori as a gift for each guest and cut a seven-month-old jamon (they did it themselves, by the way), ”wrote the writer and businessman Sergei Minaev, who owns the chain of wine shops and bars“ Bread and Wine ” ...

In a comment to Ridus, Sergei Minaev admitted that in fact the presented product is neither a jamon, nor its Russian counterpart.

“It was beef jerky, aged for 8 months. To taste, of course, the difference from jamon is very significant. It turned out to be such an improved balyk, ”the businessman said.

The jerky was made by the staff of the establishment, and then served to the guests. The action was one-off, but in the future it is planned to put the production of delicacies on stream.

“In practice, this can and should be produced in Russia. Both pigs and cows are available. Today we are negotiating with farms in the Moscow region to start growing chicken for our restaurants and curing meat, ”said Minaev.

According to him, under guaranteed sales they will be able to maintain quality and price. “We hope to complete and launch such a project within a year,” the businessman added.

As it became known to "Ridus", a larger-scale production of Russian ham is planned to be deployed in the Krasnodar Territory. The domestic company "Nikolaev and Sons", which has managed to make a name for itself in the production of wines, as well as French varieties of cheeses under the "Lefkadia" brand, will take care of this.

“Now I am a consultant with them on the creation of authentic meat products. A specialist from the Basque Country will help prepare the project for the start, ”Andrey Kuspits, development director of the gastronomic company LeBonGout, told Reedus.

He admits that the process of organizing a production workshop will be long. By now, only a paper draft is ready and financial issues are being discussed.

Foie gras

Foie gras is the fatty liver of a force-fed goose or duck, from which the eponymous delicacy is made, as well as mousse, pâté or terrine.

© MaineLobsterCurmudgeon Meets The RealEstateGeezer / flickr.com

The origin of foie gras has a deep history: the ancient Egyptians were still engaged in forced fattening of geese. However, today France is rightly considered the "country of foie gras": it has not only the necessary technologies and experience, but also a developed production cycle.

In France, the mass industrial production of foie gras began in the 1980s. Today the country produces over 90% of this product. The remaining percentages are shared by countries such as Bulgaria, Spain, Hungary, and China.

In France, foie gras production is part of the country's cultural and gastronomic heritage, and production is regulated by national law. This not only contributes to high production volumes, but also guarantees the quality of the product. Therefore, it was to France that Andrei Kuspits went, who at one time organized the production of French delicacies from Russian meat in Moscow, and now wants to establish the production of foie gras.

In a comment to Ridus, the culinary specialist admitted that earlier, at his request, a farmer near Moscow Dmitry Klimov tried to produce foie gras, but nothing came of it.

“As a result, in March we went to France to see the farmer Thierry, where we saw the production with our own eyes. We also bought a feeding machine, eggs and thoroughbred ducks, brought them to the farm, hatched chicks, ”said Kuspits.

© Steve Jurvetson / flickr.com

Currently, French ducks have grown, they will become the ancestors of those birds from which foie gras will be produced in the Moscow region in the future.

Meanwhile, no one abandoned attempts to make a completely Russian delicacy: now a second experiment on feeding Russian duck breeds is being carried out on the farm, and the first results will be visible this fall.

“Some normal amount of foie gras will be produced by next summer. However, the volumes in general will not be large: about 200 units of liver per month, ”said Kuspits.

According to him, large volumes of product production are in principle possible, but this requires a developed production cycle, in which different farms and whole cooperatives are involved.

“For example, in the departments of Gers and Gascony, the main producers of foie gras for France, this is put on stream: one farm releases the mother's egg, the other raises adult ducks, sells them to farmers who feed, and the cooperative takes the bird from them. slaughter, - said Kuspits. - We do not have this cycle, so we do it within the framework of one farm. However, our experience, a kind of know-how, can be shared with those who wish to tackle this issue. "

The gourmet specialist said that the final product from the Russian foie gras liver will be terrine. However, it is not known how much the delicacy will cost: Kuspits admitted that he did not even make rough calculations.

Meanwhile, foie gras production has already been launched at a goose farm in the Chekhov District of the Moscow Region. Those who wish are offered fresh goose liver at a price of 850 rubles per kilogram. However, Ridus did not manage to find out about the volume of production and the quality of products: the farm employees did not provide a comment, citing the lack of leadership.

Cheeses

With the production of dairy delicacies, the situation looks best: at the moment in Russia, French and Italian cheeses are produced by at least two companies that can be called relatively large.

The already mentioned company "Nikolaev and Sons" in the Krasnodar Territory produces camembert and bush, and from October it is going to produce brie.

“In our production technology, we adhere to traditional methods and recipes. All processes related to shaping, whey drainage, inoculation, turning, are carried out manually by the cheese-making staff. Also, a particularly important stage is the care work in the cheese ripening process, which is again carried out manually. And, of course, a French consultant has been advising us on technological processes for 3 years, ”the press service of the company assured Ridus.

© lefkadia.ru

Today the company strives to reach the level of processing four tons of milk per day. Cheese makers admit that they are limited in the accelerated growth process, due to the technological features of production. However, even now cheeses under the Lefkadia brand can be seen on the shelves of a number of Russian retail chains.

“Also, the products are in demand in the HoReCa segment in many regions of the country. For example, in Moscow we are represented in the Jean Jacques, Goodman, Filimonova and Yankel restaurant chains and many others, ”the press service added.

Another major player in the dairy market is Umalat. The company is engaged in the production of cheeses, including Italian varieties such as ricotta and mascarpone, and in terms of sales of mozzarella, the company occupied a quarter of the market even before the embargo.

© cyclonebill / flickr.com

"The production cycle is carried out under the guidance and control of foreign specialists who have found an opportunity to combine traditional recipes with modern technologies," the company says.

The manufacturer's portfolio includes three federal brands: Unagrande, Pretto, Umalat. The products are sold in federal retail chains, as well as served in cafes and restaurants throughout Russia.

The fashion for farm products has led to the fact that in recent years, small cheese dairies have appeared in Russia. One of them is located in the village of Maslovka, Tambov District, Lipetsk Region, where Russian enthusiastic farmer with a journalistic background, Vladimir Borev, brought a couple of professional French cheese makers - Nicole and Gilles de Vouges.

“By the time we accepted the invitation to visit our friend in Russia, my husband and I had been producing cheese in our own cheese factory for 40 years,” Nicole told Reedus. “In France, they are well aware of the medicinal effect of cheese, so all the ingredients, starter cultures and various enzymes are sold exclusively in pharmacy chains.”

According to her, Russian workers were able to precisely comply with all the technologies used by French farmers. “We are glad that when we leave, we are leaving our equipment and technology for the production of cheese in Russia,” added Nicole.

Farmer Vladimir Borev, in turn, revealed several secrets used in the production of the French miracle cheese. According to him, the product is made from unheated, unpasteurized and unboiled milk.

“Milk temperatures above 25 degrees kill lactobacilli. And, after all, it is known that these are medicinal microorganisms that have a therapeutic effect on humans. For example, the probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus Plantarum TENSIA has a positive effect on the functions of the cardiovascular system, this cheese is also called "heart cheese", "Borev explained.

The technology "grabbed" from France must be used in the Russian Federation, he is sure. But to reach an industrial scale, it is necessary to combine a dozen such farms. The next step, according to Borev, is for the authorities.

“In France, this kind of cheese is not sold in kilograms: it is the Rolls-Royce of the piece-made cheese world. The concept of weight for such a cheese is relative, it lives and is constantly transforming, ”the farmer noted.

The main challenge for French farm cheese in Russia is certification. Rospotrebnadzor simply cannot assume that cheese can be produced without boiling milk.

What is stopping the Russian manufacturer?

90% of Russian citizens did not even notice the embargo on European delicacies: they had neither the desire nor the opportunity to buy these dishes without sanctions. At least this applies to jamon and foie gras. Nevertheless, premium products have found their loyal customers among high and middle income people.

With the introduction of the embargo, Russian cheese makers began to report a sharp increase in demand for their products. Moreover, Europe quickly got its bearings by starting to supply traditional cheeses to the Russian Federation under the guise of lactose-free products. The gap was eliminated only by the second year of sanctions: now suppliers must receive a specialized state certificate, according to which they will be able to import only lactose-free products for dietary, therapeutic and preventive nutrition to the Russian market. This should prevent traditional low-lactose cheeses from hitting the shelves and boost demand for Russian dairy products. However, whether domestic producers will be able to meet the increased demand is a separate question.

Another problem in filling Russian markets with local producers is pricing policy. Small farms simply cannot sell cheese for a penny: for example, for a kilogram of cheese made in Maslovka, you will have to pay about 2.5 thousand rubles.

A similar situation is with Lefkadia cheeses: larger European producers are able to offer a similar product at a much more attractive price. And their products are still available on the market, despite the formal elimination of the lactose-free hole.

So in the supermarket "Okay" 270 grams of Camembert from "Lefkadia" will cost 629 rubles. At the same time, a similar product from the Danish grocery giant ArlaFoods, sold in the same store, costs almost half the price (around 350 rubles for the same 270 grams).

Even if we imagine that the entire sanction will disappear from the online trading platforms and counters of Russian stores, then not all gourmets will be able to afford expensive Russian counterparts.

Summing up what has been said, we must admit that attempts to produce European delicacies in Russia are being carried out. Some of them can be called successful, the results of others can only be judged in the future.

In any case, the first year of the embargo did not bring the expected super-benefits to real and potential producers of gourmet foods: lactose-free products interfered with cheese making, meat producers had long shelf life for foie gras and jamon imported to Russia before the sanctions, and the absence of a ban on trade in "sanctioned" products left opportunities for the smuggling of goods.

If the sanctions wars continue for several more years, and smuggling is completely stopped, then domestic producers will have real chances of success. With an increase in production, the turnover of products of Russian companies will also increase, which will reduce prices.

In the meantime, unfortunately, compatriots offer Russians European quality for a very unattractive price. At the same time, authentic European-made goods can always be ordered in an online store: the attempts of the Prosecutor General's Office to block such resources today look ineffective.

I offer a selection of the best Russian products made to replace forbidden delicacies. What do you think of Russian counterparts of Western products prohibited by sanctions?

The idea for the post came to me yesterday. Introduced me to the community pora_valit , where I had a little conversation with a friend mefed47 ... He told me that in the Crimea, the production of oysters was re-established, which was considered to have perished forever for more than a dozen years. Oysters are finicky creatures, they are very sensitive to the environment, they love only clean and calm water.

And so, it turns out that very little was required to reanimate the oyster economy: to stop pouring out all kinds of rubbish in the Black Sea. I do not think that the improvement in the environment is associated with a change in the status of Crimea. Most likely, the fact is that production has ceased to spit on the environment and somehow comply with environmental protection standards. For example, I wrote a post about Tuapse, where it was only after the introduction of new hydrotreating systems as part of the modernization of the enterprises that they stopped polluting the sea. Can you imagine how everything looked 20 years ago? The consequences are being eliminated by the new management so far, and only by 2014 the work comes to the final stage.

There are also many production projects in the Crimea, and, apparently, the oysters somehow did not go well before, because the mollusks were mercilessly flooded with chemical waste.

Now a farm for growing oysters has existed in the Crimean village of Katsiveli since 2005. It is located under water on an area of five hectares, three hundred meters from the coast. On the surface, only "buoys-beacons" are visible. Scuba divers collect the harvest at a depth of five meters. It is half a million pieces of oysters and about 60-80 tons of mussels per year. Quite good results for just one farm, it will be even better further.

The loss of the ham caused a lot of resonance in society. I don’t know how anyone, but speaking for myself personally would not say that I often ate it, but that’s not the point. In Krasnodar, there is a real “meat king” Takhir Kholikberdiev, who has always emphasized his love specifically for Kuban meat. The restaurateur made the delicacy at home in just 8 months and is now selling it.

But if you think about it, then to make Spanish jamon, you need just:

pork ham - 4-5 kg;

sea salt - 3-5 times the weight of the ham;

Well, arms from the shoulders, of course.

More than the disappearance of the jamon, the news of foreign cheese made people suffer. Here I can understand the general indignation: all Russian cheese tastes about the same and is only suitable for melting it for meat in French at a visit to my grandmother. If you want an exquisite delicate taste, then the choice from a Russian manufacturer tends to zero.

And after all, they made cheese with mold, including in the Kuban somewhere in the 30s of the 20th century. There are more modern examples, the Kuban company "Caloria" three years ago began to develop a technology for making cheese with mold like "Brie" and "Camembert". But no matter how they boasted of regional achievements, the taste of the cheese was far from ideal.

But the monks of the Valaam Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior (Lake Ladoga region) will produce cheeses from brands that have fallen under anti-sanctions. And about this cheese, I have the best expectations: the monks took courses in cheese making in Italy and bought equipment there. For example, Father Agapius, who runs the monastery farm, learned how to make five types of cheese: mozzarella, caciotta, morlacco, smoked ricotta and white blue cheese bianca.

And what examples of the preparation of forbidden delicacies in our country do you know?