The New York Times calls him the “rock star” of the ham. His work to preserve Spanish gastronomic culture and to promote Iberian ham around the world has brought him worldwide recognition. He has given jamón cutting demonstrations at Formula One pit stops, at the Oscars, at major casino events in Las Vegas and Macau, and to Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz at the invitation of director Bigas Luna during the casting of the film Jamón jamón. He has personally served celebrities such as Barack Obama, King Juan Carlos I, Rafael Nadal, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, Silvio Berlusconi, Tony Blair, George W. Bush, Richard Gere, Angelina Jolie, Kim Basinger, and Robert Redford. He claims that Mick Jagger told him he was a vegetarian and immediately ate a piece of the ones Florencio served him. He cut jamon on the Orient Express from Singapoor to Bangkok in front of the eleven richest men in the world.

Florencio was born in the town of El Fresno in Avila. He learned about the beauty of cutting meat as a child from his father. His family farms and raises pigs. Sanchidrian initially worked as a hotel and restaurant manager. He then moved to Barcelona, where he perfected the technique of cutting ham. In 1986, he won his first prize in a competition on the subject. He later became a multiple national and world champion. In 1992, he cut pieces of ham at the World Exhibition in Seville. A year later he secluded himself for eleven days in a monastery in Santander with “five pieces of ham, water and nothing else” with the intention of discovering all the secrets of ham and becoming a great slicer. With a renewed philosophy, he began practicing his craft at even bigger events and his services were sought in more and more countries around the world.

In 2004, he was named the World Ambassador of Iberian Ham in Paris by the International Academy of Gastronomy and the best slicer of this product at international level. That same year he was hired to serve the guests at the wedding of the Princes of Asturias. He has worked in the Formula 1 pits, collaborating with chefs Juan Marie Arzac, Ferran Adrià and Salvador Gallego.

For Florencio, cutting jamon is a mystical experience, like the dance of the bullfighter with the bull. “To feel the high quality of the jamón,” he explains, “you have to trust the cortador. The cortador becomes a master only when he can connect with the soul of the hamón and discover its darkest secrets, telling you about the music, the poetry, the loneliness and the beauty of life that you will feel in the taste of the meat. He claims that when he does a tasting, he goes through thousands of feelings and sensations, even just while watching his knife. Life and joy are projected before his eyes like a screen. He has cut more than 40 000 hams. He has won the Cuccilo de Oro (the world’s biggest award for a meat cutter) five times. He also holds a Great Golden Pan award from the Association of European Union Entrepreneurs. He travels to five continents twice a year, teaches several masterclasses a year, runs his company Real Jamón and is responsible for selecting ham drying rooms for Repsol management.

Florencio Sanchidrian arrived from Saudi Arabia to be a special guest at the Spanish Fashion Sofia’s first edition gala and demonstrate the cutting ritual on the world’s best ham for 2023 “Ibericos Casa Lucas”. The next day she left for Australia.

Here’s what Florencio Sanchidrian told us about the jamón:

When gastronomy talks about luxury, it’s always about Iberian ham. The highest quality jamón is Gran Reserve. It comes from semi-wild pigs that are raised in the wild for two years and fed on acorns from October to January. The first jamón to come out is from the pigs fed on green acorns. Four months later, one comes out from pigs fed on mature acorns. The meat of these pigs smells of acorns, it has the aromas of the field, of the earth, of walnuts, of grasses. It is dried for four years in natural dryers under strict rules, discarding hams that do not meet the quality parameters. And achieving quality requires care, darkness and silence. The temperature must be between 24 and 28 degrees Celsius. This should also be the case when cutting the ham. No higher and no lower.

The meat is different in different parts of the ham. The knee is usually the driest. Near the hoof is the most flavourful, because in drying the hams are hung so that the most fat runs off there. It accumulates in this part and provides a great concentration of flavours, making the meat juicy and its taste intense.

White spots in the meat are neither a sign of inferior quality nor of accumulated salt. They are crystals of tyrosine, which are produced during the maturing process of the ham, when the proteins are broken down or when the curing has gone on for a long time. These crystals do not alter the taste and do not affect the quality. The quality of the meat of female pigs is better than that of males. The price of Grand Reserve Hamon is between EUR 1 500 and EUR 2 000 per leg. It is cut horizontally. It is best tasted with champagne. It also goes well with white wine. Not with red, so as not to compete with the taste of the wine.

Ham is eaten all year round, but most around Christmas. Then its sales increase by 30%. Ham’s biggest enemy is the cold. Under no circumstances should it be refrigerated. Store it at 23-24 degrees in the kitchen. Never in a cellar because moisture is its enemy too.

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The ham is the paper and the knife is the pen. When you start slicing the meat, you start writing poetry, because jamon is culture. Like wine.