Iberian Pig

Iberian Pig is a pig breed native to the Iberian Peninsula, raised across parts of Spain and Portugal, distinguished by black or dark grey skin and a slender build compared to most modern commercial pig breeds. It is traditionally raised in the dehesa, the open oak woodland pasture of southwestern Spain and adjoining Portugal, where free-ranging pigs forage on acorns in the final months before slaughter, a diet that gives the breed's most prized product, jamon iberico de bellota, its distinctive marbled fat and flavor. The breed's genetics allow an unusually high capacity for intramuscular fat, which is central to the quality of cured ham and other pork products made from it. Iberian pig farming and its acorn-finishing tradition remain closely regulated in Spain, with several official designations distinguishing bellota, cebo de campo and cebo grades according to diet and rearing conditions.