all (food porn) photos: Liz Shen
all words: Alex Nicholson

Pata Negra. Black Hoof. Iberico pig. No matter what you call it, Jose Andres thinks it is a “sexy pig.” And I have to agree.

On Tuesday evening Liz Shen and I joined a group of food writers and bloggers for a casual gathering at Jose Andres’ home. It was an honor to be invited and a wonderful event to be part of. The reason for the party was a tasting of Iberico pork, a completely new protein in this country.

The Iberico pig is descended from Mediterranean wild boar. It is the last free ranging and grazing pig in Europe. The quality of the meat is determined by the pig’s diet. Iberico de Pienso is fed grain; Iberico de Recebo is pastured and fed a mixed diet of grain and acorns; and Iberico de Bellota is a free-roaming pig that eats only acorns and wild herbs. Meat from the Iberico de Bellot is the highest quality and most valued of these. And that is what we were eating on Tuesday.

Jamon Iberico is already known in the United States, but just barely as this buttery ham was not available in the United States until 2008. It has a very supple, warm and meltingly delicious texture. The perfect combination of salt, fat and cured sweetness. There is a very specific way to serve and cut this ham, all stemmed from tradition and ensuring the best flavor. Jose Andres was recently spotted jumping behind the counter at a New York restaurant just to teach the staff how to properly carve this meat.

But we’re not talking about ham are we? We’re talking about pork. Iberico de Bellota pork. The uncured, fresh meat from the valued Iberico pig. Which until this week has never been available in the United States.

Enter Wagshal’s. This legendary D.C. butcher shop is now the only place in the country to sell Iberico pork. In a deal conceived Jose Andres, Wagshal’s is now working with a producer in Spain to bring this meat into the country. Wagshal’s will sell the boneless loin for $30/lb, bone-in chops for $28/lb and ribs for $24. Expensive, yes. Worth it, absolutely.

This meat is remarkable. Clean. Healthy. If you could love a meat, you’d love this pork. Deeply marbled, rich with fat, exceptionally flavorful. The quality of the animal and depth of flavor allows for a lower finished cooking time. This pork should be served medium rare and have a pink center. It’s not the dingy, whitish grey that you’re used to seeing. The coloring is more akin to what you would see with veal.

And the taste is incomparable. Jose Andres and his team prepared the Iberico pork for us in person. They grilled loins and chops and salt-roasted another loin. The meat was served with a garlicky aioli and some fresh grilled tomato toasts. The meat was shaved thin and tossed in hot sauce. The meat was topped with fresh sliced ham, folded and eaten like a “ham sandwich.” The meat was seasoned lightly with wide chunks of black salt..with thick crystals of pink salt…with grains of brown salt. The salt-roasted pig was served with a green sauce and totally ruled my world.

It was like a pork orgy. Grown adults eating fatty slices of pork with their hands, greasing up their wine glasses and looking desperately for napkins. Everyone only talking about one thing – pork – like it was the most important thing in the world.

I think the introduction of this animal is a real game changer in the culinary world. Building on the immeasurable success of Spanish cooking and our desire for impeccable and pure ingredients, Iberico pork comes at a perfect time for chefs and food lovers.

If you’d like to try Iberico pork and don’t want to deal with buying or cooking it, head to Jaleo next week. Starting on Monday the restaurant will feature roasted Iberico pork with apples ($16) and a paella made from the ribs ($48).

And if you’re wondering about the pictures, the Ferrari does not belong to Jose Andres and we’re still trying to figure out who peed on the floor.