El Rubio

Count the seats and the shelf space before you choose a Spanish Iberian piece from Guijuelo, in Salamanca. In this shop, El Rubio is jamón, paleta, chorizo, salchichón and lomo: bone-in legs and shoulders of several kilos, one boneless acorn-fed shoulder, half sausages and a single 100 g pack cut by knife. Bellota, cebo de campo and cebo are feeding categories, not interchangeable labels. The weight on each product name tells you whether the piece will last for weeks, for a few days, or for tonight's plate.

A bone-in El Rubio paleta, the shoulder, needs a ham holder, a long knife and a cool, dry corner out of the sun. Start at the maza, keep each slice thin and cover the cut face with its own fat or a clean cotton cloth. The boneless acorn-fed paleta (2.5 to 3.5 kg) lives in the fridge and needs no stand, which is the practical choice in a small kitchen. An acorn-fed jamón of 8 to 9 kg feeds many more sittings, provided someone carves it often. Leave the face open and forgotten, and it dries. When the meal is only for today, the 100 g pack is the format that does not commit you to a leg.

Sausages here are sold as a half piece. Chorizo ibérico bellota campaña and chorizo cular ibérico are about 600 g each. Salchichón cular ibérico is about 500 g. Salchichón ibérico bellota and both loins are about 600 g. Thin slices go on a board. Chorizo can also be diced into a short stew. Once the face is cut, wrap it and put the piece back in the cold.

Bellota is the montanera category: the Iberian pig finishes on acorns and pasture, and that fat shows more clearly if the slice waits a few minutes out of the fridge. Give a bone-in piece when the gift is the act of carving. Give the boneless shoulder when the person who receives it has little space and no ham holder. Two acorn-fed Guijuelo hams sit between 8 and 9 kg. Jamón Ibérico de Bellota Guijuelo is listed as 8 and 9 kg. Jamón Ibérico de Bellota D.O. Guijuelo, from 8 to 9 kg, is one of only two names that include D.O. Guijuelo.

The other is Paleta Ibérica de Bellota D.O. Guijuelo, fixed at 6 kg. The acorn-fed paleta Guijuelo of 5 to 6 kg does not carry that designation in the name, nor does the boneless paleta at 2.5 to 3.5 kg. A shoulder is finished sooner than a ham, so it suits a household that carves every week. The ham belongs to celebrations that repeat through a season. Keep the boneless piece cold, with the cut covered between servings. Hang the bone-in piece somewhere cool and airy, and carve it steadily so the face does not dry.

Paleta Ibérica de Cebo Guijuelo weighs 5.5 to 6.5 kg. Cebo means feed-finished Iberian pork. Handle it as any bone-in shoulder: holder, gradual knife work, cool storage. The flavour is more direct than bellota. Buy it when you want a whole paleta that will be eaten at a steady pace, and do not expect the acorn finish.

The only pre-sliced item in the list is jamón cebo de campo ibérico Guijuelo, 100 g, knife-cut. Cebo de campo sits between feed and montanera: time outdoors as well as feed, fat often a little more noticeable than plain cebo, still short of bellota. One pouch covers a tapa, a sandwich or a plate for three or four people. Store it in the fridge and finish it within a few days of opening. Ready knife-cut slices, in this El Rubio list, means that pouch. The bone-in cebo piece is the paleta.

Chorizo is the piece you may heat. Chorizo ibérico bellota campaña, a half of about 600 g, is the acorn-fed chorizo: paprika, fat from that feeding, firm enough to slice and frank enough for a pan. Chorizo cular ibérico, also about 600 g for the half, is the wide calibre. The name says ibérico and does not say bellota, so keep it in that lane. Dice either chorizo into a short stew, or lay thin rounds on bread.

Salchichón and lomo stay cold. Salchichón cular ibérico is about 500 g and salchichón ibérico bellota about 600 g. Bellota changes the aroma of the fat; cular changes how wide the round is. Lomo ibérico de bellota and lomo ibérico de cebo are half pieces of about 600 g, eaten raw in thin slices. A clear board is one lomo, one salchichón and one chorizo, with jamón or paleta added only when the table calls for it. Unopened, the cured sausage keeps cool and dry. Once started, protect the face and refrigerate. You do not need to open all three halves on the same day.

Your Spanish Shop lines these El Rubio references up with the weight written on the name, so a whole-leg gift, a cupboard of half pieces and a dinner pouch stay easy to tell apart. The same list shows where D.O. Guijuelo is part of the name (the acorn-fed jamón of 8 to 9 kg and the acorn-fed paleta of 6 kg) and where Guijuelo appears without that designation. Shipping brings the Spanish piece you actually chose. Hang it, cool and airy, if the bone is still in. Keep it in the fridge if it is boneless, sliced or already started.