‘Slicing Spanish Ham’: 130 pages on how to correctly slice a whole leg of ham

It turns out that slicing ham isn’t just a skill, it’s a profession. What, you’ve never heard of the famous jamon slicers of Spain?

Either way, for anyone interested in correctly slicing a full leg of jamon (and taking it from a skill to an art form), there’s now a book that shows you how: “Mastering the Fine Art of Slicing Spanish Ham,� now available in English.

The way you cut your ham apparently can determine aroma, texture and flavor, and you don’t want to mess these characteristics up.

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After all, it takes 18 months of curing to produce jamon serrano and 12 to 48 months for jamon iberico (made from black-footed Iberian pigs), and a whole bone-in leg of the latter costs about $700. Slicing ham, we learn, “requires talent, extensive knowledge, practice and steady hands.�

The book covers types of hams and topics such as safety, aesthetics, preparation, utensils and important vocabulary. It’s a user’s manual that provides step-by-step photography, intended to give the reader the same instruction as a hands-on course a with a master jamon slicer.

But if you don’t happen to have a whole leg of ham to slice yourself, another option might be the jamon menu from the Bazaar on La Cienega: jamon serrano, dry-cured jamon iberico, dry-cured free-range jamon iberico, and dry-cured free-range acorn-fed jamon iberico.

“Slicing Spanish Ham,� $60. Available at www.le-sanctuaire.com.

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