One of our goals when we went to Spain a while back was to return home with a whole leg of jamón ibérico - beautiful cured Spanish ham as pictured to the right.

We failed.

What we did return with was a whole sampling of the porcine fruits of Spain in smaller cuts: several cured chorizos and several different de-boned Iberian hams, including nearly a kilogram of the legendary jamón ibérico de bellota. Needless to say, we greatly exceeded our ham budget, but it was worth it. We had the ham vacuum-packed to bring it back to Hong Kong, so we've been in no particular rush to get through it.

The chorizo has been consumed idly over a long time. It's lovely, but not of any particular distinction, so we've been carefree in its use. There's been plenty of simple snacking on it, but chorizo has also made its way into things like stews and steamed rice as a flavoring agent.

The ham, though, we had hesitated to open until we had an appropriate utensil with which to cut it. Thick slices of cured ham are a waste. You want those paper-thin slices that almost melt on your tongue. A mandoline probably would've been the easiest option, but a proper ham knife felt more appropriate (and much more fun), so the last time I was in the US I ordered an Arcos Spanish ham knife from Amazon for about $20.

We finally unpacked the first of the jamones a couple days ago. We wanted to start with a lower grade ham in case the ham knife had a steep learning curve, so we grabbed the chunk of jamón ibérico de recebo. This is mid-grade ibérico ham, but don't get me wrong, it's still great stuff -- it's made from pastured Black Iberian pigs which are fed grain at first, but are transitioned to an acorn diet before fulfilling their destiny -- but it pales in comparison to the jamón ibérico de bellota, which is cured 3 years and made from free-range, pure-bred Black Iberians that spend their lives roaming the oak forests of western Spain, feasting on wild, fallen acorns. The exercise has as big an impact as the diet, they say.

And starting with the cheaper ham was prudent.

The ham knife is tricky at first, but after slicing about half of the ham I had a really good feel for it, and was producing lovely millimeter-thin sheets. I still have room for improvement. My slices aren't long enough, and the width fluctuates a bit, particularly near the bottom of the slice.

As of tonight, we've already made our way through that first ham. Today's dinner consisted of decadent ham and cheese sandwiches: the jamón ibérico, a smoky Idiazabal cheese from the Basque country, and Spanish olive oil on a simple roll. To drink, a bottle of 2002 Moët Grand Vintage - a strong champagne that pairs beautifully with rich, salty, yeasty flavors. Cava would have been more region-appropriate, but we're trying to work through a backlog of bottles; even if not for the backlog, the champagne seems a nicer paring than cava, which tends to be more acidic and less balanced.

Tomorrow we start on the bellota.