Jamón

Spanish ham, jamón (or chamón) is famous and the more you taste it, the sooner you will fall for it.
There are four levels of quality, and you dig deeper into your wallet accordingly.

The locals will explain to you very seriously that the Iberian pig is not the pink pig we know. It's a black pig and unlike a normal pig, it takes up to 5 years to mature. This difference in breeding time alone explains the price, but the most important thing is how many Iberian relatives the pig has in its pedigree. If the Iberian breed is 50% or higher, you can definitely tell by the taste of the ham.
Another factor is the rearing conditions. If the pig has been running around outside (campo) and fed on acorns (bellota), it makes the best ham. It is usually marked black and the price is a multiple of the others.
The ham marked in red is a reasonable value for money and the untrained palate will also like the one marked in green.

Ham is a standard item on every restaurant's starter menu, so don't worry about ordering it, it's good everywhere.
The jamón is hand-cut directly from the ham hock, and you can even taste it at the market before you buy it. If you're tempted to buy a whole leg, it's important to stick to the basic rule: the ham is cut from the leg every day!