Jonathan Broadley likes ham so much he took a foodie tour of Spain to sample it

It all started at Castillas just off the Northcote Road in Wandsworth. The owner, Juan, used to keep a leg of ham in an empty room on the first floor where none of the punters were allowed to go. I eventually found out his secret after sitting down with Juan over a bottle of Vina Sol. He disappeared upstairs and came back with a plate of ham which looked like any other until it ended up in my mouth. This was my Damascene ham moment.

You may ask – so what? It’s just a piece of ham. Just try. It is the most tender and flavoursome meat where the pigs have spent months devouring acorns from the Spanish dehesas. It almost melts in your mouth when thinly cut. At the right temperature (on the side of warm) beads of oil start appearing on the surface which lets you know it’s in perfect condition to eat.

Before I get carried away there are many types of ham but the one I mention above is the best. It is known as Jamon de Bellota, Jamon Iberico, and Pata Negra (officially no longer used to avoid confusion). It’s not cheap, with a leg costing in the region of £400, depending on the producer you buy it from.

Where did I go from there? The only thing to do was to cross over into the continent and go to Extremadura – the wild west of Spain. Jamon Iberico was available in droves, being served and consumed for breakfast, lunch and supper. Just catch a flight to Seville and you’re not far from some of the best ham-producing areas in the country. You can even throw in some culture in Merida, stay in the country’s wonderful paradors, and visit the home of one of Spain’s most famous pig farmers, Francisco Pizarro, who conquered the Inca Empire back in the 16th century.

We took a flight with Ryanair to Seville on a Saturday evening. For the very nervous this is probably not the best time of day to travel – having to drive a new car in a foreign country on the wrong side of the road feeling tired from a day of travelling, in the dark! However, we were blessed with the technological advances of sat nav which was a great confidence boost but also helped keep together a friendship. If anything went wrong you could always blame it on the sat nav.

Having safely navigated (just) the way to our hotel we caught a taxi into the town centre for a spot of tapas at the not unusual hour of 12am. A bowl of gazpacho sprinkled with jamon cuts was a welcome delight on a sweltering evening and a taster for things to come.

The next day we headed off north of Seville, edging into the Spanish dehesa. Our first stop was Merida which was the largest Roman city in the Iberian Peninsula. It boasts some of the finest Roman ruins in the whole of Spain and has a fabulous amphitheatre. If you time it right you can even catch an evening concert there, and we managed a marvellous ham sandwich.

We carried on north to Trujillo which was once the home of Francisco Pizarro, the pig farmer. It was a lovely town perched on a rocky outcrop, surrounded on all sides by dehesa. This was the first place where we had booked a parador for the night. For those who have not come across paradors they are government-owned hotels with a twist. Many of them are old castles, palaces, monasteries, country houses or mansions. They are very special and really give you a sense of going back in time.

We were still feeling hungry but everything had shut down that afternoon during the siesta period. If there is one thing you need to get right when driving between places, it is to check when the Spanish eat their meals. Otherwise you will be missing out on some great food.

We managed to survive until the evening before dining out on the square being served American-size portions of foie gras and steak.

Oxford Mail:

It’s always good to remember a bit of Spanish is extremely useful especially if you don’t want any surprises when ordering your food!

The next day we drove north-west to Ciudad Rodrigo. I chose this place as I had always wanted to stay in a castle.

As we drove in to town we could see the 12th century castle walls running high above the river below. When we got closer the sat nav got a bit confused so we ended up driving through the narrow streets Italian Job-style until we eventually arrived at the castle gates.

The city has a turbulent past, having been inhabited by the Romans, Moors and Christians with its strategic position on the Spain-Portugal border. We managed to spend some time wandering through the maze of streets but then retreated back to the castle gardens with its views over the town and plains below.

Needless to say we ate local ham like there was no tomorrow everywhere we visited. We gorged on the stuff as if it was going out of fashion, always accompanied by a glass of local vino.

Carrying on up north to Leon in the region of Old Castile, the parador we stayed in was a converted 16th-century monastery with cloisters and a chapterhouse attached. We arrived bang on lunch time and ate in the parador itself.

In the evening we ventured into the city centre and visited the cathedral, one of Europe’s finest, built over 200 years from the 13th century onwards.

Haro, in Rioja country, was our next destination. We stayed in another converted monastery, ate more good food and visited one of the bodegas across the river to taste some of the wine.

Like a lot of the places we visited spending half a day and evening at each one seemed to be enough. We would drive for around three hours in the morning and made sure we got to our next destination for lunch. This was followed by a good walk around, visiting the main sights, and then finishing off with an evening meal, usually a good plate of jamon.

So if you ever venture to Castillas ask Juan whether he still has any of that ham stowed away upstairs for you to taste. It could cost you a bottle of Vina Sol but is definitely worth it!