The Man Who Cuts the Perfect Slice of Ham

It’s Ernesto Soriano of Madrid!

@Maribel have you been?

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@linguafood

Yes, we’ve seen this famous cortador de jamón (it’s an art form!, as the NY Times article explains). He works at Joselito’s on Calle Veláquez in the Salamanca district, next to our favorite new bistrot, Freixa Tradición, which has an elegant jamón Ibérico stand at the entrance.

Speaking of this quotation from the article: “Nowadays, a wedding is judged, Mr. Soriano said only half-jokingly, less by the sanctity of the union than on the state of the ham.”
So…the patriarch of our Madrid family, who is from the famous ham region of Huelva, insisted on bringing up from Madrid and cutting/serving his special Jabugo ham for the cocktail hour at our wedding in Pamplona. He considers himself a master cortador as well.

At Christmas time we all go into the kitchen to see him in action, cutting the jamón for our pre-Christmas dinner aperitivo. We haven’t attempted to learn this art form, although my husband is tempted to buy one of those special leg of ham holders that so many homes used to have in the kitchen. But it’s much easier for his supplier to send it up from Huelva already sliced and packaged.

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Thank you for chiming in :slight_smile:

I’m not surprised that good ham is a status symbol at weddings!