Gourmet Secrets by Karen Anand: High on ham

The Spanish Ibérico ham can make even the most average pork-eating person go weak in the knees

It’s been so long since I visited Spain that I had almost forgotten a couple of things - how nice the people are, how friendly and how accommodating. From the security officer at the airport who happily let me out to do some customs formalities and then let me in again, to the lady at the Camper shoe shop who opened 20 minutes early because I was banging on the window, to the little cook at the pintxos bar (tapas bar in the Basque country) who kept plying us with extra little dishes and didn’t even charge for them at the end. For me this is what Spain is all about. It really is a country with a heart. I was very happy to re-discover all this recently on a trip to attend the mega food conference and fair called Gastronomika held in the beautiful little seaside town of San Sebastian on the Bay of Biscay. Gastronomika has been running for 20 years now but it has really only opened itself to an international audience very recently.

Ibérico ham comes from the famous black pig that eats acorns

The best Ibérico ham has to be four years old and has to be cut by hand

Aitor Lasa, a family run shop and one of the best deli stores in San Sebastian