Bocadillo
A love letter to the simple elegance of a Spanish Sandwich
Spain has an obsession with ham. From their “Museum of Ham” to the thousands upon thousands of pig legs you will find hanging in the markets of the plazas, it’s clear that this is more than food for the Spaniards. To them, ham is a symbol of national pride and has been for centuries. During their 800-year war against the Moors, the Spaniards would hang pig legs in their window to show support of the king (Muslims can’t eat pork). The Spanish cook a myriad of dishes with their ham, but the most simple, most universal, and most elegant is the Bocadillo de Jamon. Otherwise known as the Ham Sandwich.
This dish only requires 3 ingredients: A baguette, olive oil, and ham of course. Not just any kind of ham, but Jamon Serrano. This authentic Spanish style of ham is salted and cured from six months to as long as a year and a half before they reach the markets to hang. Once there, they are carved into astonishingly paper-thin slices before being packaged and sold. It is not uncommon to see a butcher at these markets working over a leg with his sword-length knife, painstakingly slicing away, millimeter by millimeter.
These thin slices are absolutely crucial when preparing a bocadillo de jamon. First, the baguette is cut in half and toasted until that fluffy white crumb (or, la mie) turns into golden brown craters. Next, olive oil is drizzled over the toasted crumb to allow the bread to drink in the flavor. Then, the already unimaginably thin ham is ripped up by hand and placed over the toast. Layer over layer until you have a small pink mountain of prosciutto. The other half of the baguette is placed on top and voilá you have yourself a bocadillo. One of the best lunches you’ve ever had can be prepared at home in less than ten minutes.
Simple enough, sure. But the TASTE. These three simple ingredients combine to create a taste with more notes in it than a symphony. The pure gold of the olive oil married deeply with the fabric of the buttery crunch in the baguette melts in your mouth while the cold and tiny slices of ham add a perfect zing to the mix: salty, fresh, hearty, and hammy. The firmness of the bread which crumbles under your teeth is contrasted by the smooth nature of the ham which practically melts on the tongue.
Of course, there are many kinds of bocadillos. It is a truly universal sandwich. While shopping in tiendas at the plazas you can buy lamb, shrimp, kabab, chicken, beef, or egg and potato bocadillos. They all have a similar simplistic beauty to them. But nothing is more Spanish, or more delicious than the Bocadillo de Jamon Serrano.
