World's Best Ham by PataNegra.dk

You buy a beautiful piece of Spanish ham, cut a few thin slices, and then notice something unusual: tiny white dots. Maybe a few crystals are sitting inside the lean part of the meat. At first, it can look strange. Some people think it is salt. Others worry it might be mould, or that the ham has gone bad. The good news is simple: in most cases, those white crystals are not a problem at all. In fact, they are often a good sign. These little white marks are usually tyrosine crystals . Tyrosine is a natural amino acid that appears during the curing and ageing process of ham. It forms when proteins in the meat slowly break down. So, instead of being a warning sign, those small white points often show that the ham has matured properly. And with good jamón, time is everything. What are the white crystals in ham? The white crystals found in cured ham are usually made from tyrosine. This is not an artificial ingredient, nor is it something added by the producer. It is already connected to the...