MAPA stamp

Before covering the ham with salt, it has to be visibly and indelibly marked with the MAPA stamp. These initials represent the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, currently the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment (MAGRAMA).
This stamp, made by fire-branding or using food ink, should state the week and year of the salting and it might add the MAPA name. Consumers can thereby check that the real curing of the piece matches its label and, with it, the designation of the product and its price.
Long curing is usually a guarantee, not so much that the ham will be drier and more compact (this can be due to excess salt or accelerated artificial curing), but of quality and the flavour of “well-cured ham”.

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