23 April is World Book Day, according to UNESCO. Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare both died on this day, making it a very appropriate date to set a day dedicated to literature and the promotion of reading.
At Joselito, we want to contribute to such a day of enlightenment in a special way: inspiring you with happy ideas. And what better way to do this than inspiring you with the recipe book that Ferran Adrià and his team at elBulli have prepared especially for Joselito. It features a total of 40 recipes starring Joselito Iberian ham and we want to give you one. If you want to get it, visit our Facebook page and share today's publication on the occasion of World Book Day. We will give away ten recipe books to fans that publish it on their walls.
When a culinary legend is paired with the best ham in the world the creations born from this union are as extraordinary as they are delicious.
Joselito acorn-fed ham is delicious when enjoyed the way it has been for over 100 years. But, along with Ferran Adrià, we wanted to take one step further in the traditional way we understand a gastronomic jewel like Joselito ham.
This is a cookbook created for Joselito and structured into four different sections:
Joselito base broth
Adrià and his team at elBulli present different types of broths, soups and even gazpacho, risotto and an original and surprising cantaloupe and Joselito ham soup. Our Joselito ham bones are the foundation to develop part of this extensive and delicious recipe book. From them, we extract the essence that we'll use to prepare magnificent dishes with all the flavour of an authentic gastronomic jewel.
Joselito Fat Base
The fat in our Joselito ham is an exceptional part we can use to make delicious dishes. It's a very well known area for great chefs like Ferran Adrià, a pioneer who has been cooking with the fat in Joselito ham for years and who made it part of many of his dishes at elBulli. In its original form, we can present it "slowly cooked", simmering it over a low flame in a pan until it's transparent or "crispy" if we want to give it another type of texture. This provides fantastic texture and we can make it in different ways and presentations. It's ideal to give a distinctive touch to dishes as simple as a salad, artichokes with clams, vegetables or something as simple as a fried egg.
Joselito Oil Base
Using the fat in our Joselito ham and cooking it over a low flame (not letting it boil) along with sunflower oil for about half an hour, we can also obtain oil that, once strained, will have all the Joselito flavour and aroma. Joselito oil will become one of our best allies in the kitchen and the main base we can use to make dressings, mayonnaise, vinaigrette or even delicious mashed potatoes. With the Joselito oil base, we can also caramelise our vegetables or, if we let it cool, the oil will turn into soft Joselito Butter, which is also ideal to enrich many of our dishes or even toast.
Joselito Ham Base
The range of possibilities offered by Joselito Iberian ham is very wide since its texture and flavour allow it to adapt to an infinite number of ingredients.
In the recipe book, you'll discover different cuts to cook with ham (sliced, diced or Julienned), learn how we can prepare crunchy Joselito simply cooking a slice of ham in the oven and many other dishes starring Joselito ham: the perfect Joselito croquette, Artichokes with quail eggs and Joselito Ham, Envoltini with asparagus or the iconic Joselito Air-Baguette that Ferran Adrià first introduced at his el Bulli restaurant.
The LAB by Ferran Adrià recipe book offers useful recommendations at the moment of preparing a specific recipe, as well as many other recipes in addition to the ones mentioned above. Even you can add some recipes once inspiration has caught you while working with Joselito. Will you give it a try?
