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Characteristics

Weight: Male/female 353 lb (160 kg).

Colour: Completely black or grey, including the hooves.

The Iberian pig is indigenous to the Mediterranean region, where it is the last known breed to live entirely in the open. It is thought the Phoenicians introduced the breed to the Iberian Peninsula some 3,000 years ago—originally from the eastern Mediterranean, where they had bred with wild boars.

The Black Iberian lives mainly under the cover of oak trees growing in Andalusia in southern Spain. The microclimate of the region is ideal for the oak trees’ growth and consequently for the acorns that are the main food of the Black Iberian. It is a diet that gives the ham of this pig its unique flavour. Production is for quality not quantity. The Black Iberian is rare, but well regulated, with just 15 pigs allowed per hectare. This breed has a special place in the pig world; its sheer quality has defied economics and a fickle public for centuries.