At last it's happened! The capital can experience some of the world's best pork. Ibérico de Bellota pork is available at Wagshal's and Jaleo. This is pork meat that comes from the same acorn-fed pigs that produce that heavenly Ibérico ham I can't get (or afford) enough of. Jose Andres has arranged its exclusive import through Fermin.

Ibérico de Bellota comes from the Ibérico breed of pig, native to Spain's Extramadura peninsula. It's the high marbling of fat that makes it special and gives it its buttery mouth feel. Also key is that the pigs have been allowed to wander free on the dehesas - the plains - eating a diet that includes a very specific quantity of acorns. It's these that give the meat its characteristic flavor and complexity. The seal D.O. Dehesa de Extremadura is a guarantee that the pigs are Ibérico and have snuffled up the proper proportion of acorns.

When it comes to cured hams, Jamón Ibérico de Bellota is possibly the best in the world (apologies to Parma). It's also the most expensive because of this way the pigs have been fattened.

Among secondary cured Ibérico hams are:

Jamón Ibérico de Recebo, from pigs that have been fattened with a mixture of feed and acorns.

Like Parma ham, the more thinly Ibérico ham is sliced, the better.

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