Wait Costco has jamon iberico? Sliced or like a full leg?
I’ve tried sneaking in a paleta of Cinco Jotas iberico de bellota before, but the customs dog just drools incessantly, and my jig is up…
;-D
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Funny!!!
Full leg. At least the Marina del Rey store does (or did a few wks back). You even get the wooden board it’s attached to! 
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Lol word on the street is that you can fIt 2 in an empty golf bag 
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So you can imagine how intriguing and baffling I find the conversations about how thin Jamon Ibérico should be sliced or de Bellota vs Regular. If I get that leg at Costco will someone come over and slice it for me?
P.S. I have actually had Ibérico pork. Thank you, Raku.
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They have 3 ounce packages of pre-sliced for ~$15. I saw it last week at Yorba Linda.
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I was thinking of the small package of pata negra.
In order of prestige, the ranking goes something like this:
- Jamón serrano
- Jamón Ibérico
- Jamón Ibérico de bellota
- Jamón Pata Negra
There is reportedly a fair amount of fraudulent labeling, but I think Costco is pretty trustworthy.
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Not totally accurate.
The highest grade classification is now jamón ibérico de bellota (as of a few years ago). Pata negra, which used to be in the jamon vernacular as “The Best”, is now used as an informal term to denote a purebred Iberian black-hoofed pig.
All jamón ibérico de bellota, by definition, come from black-hoofed purebred Iberian pigs. Furthermore, these specific pigs have been raise in the dehesa, and are only given a natural acorn-based range diet, with no commercial feed.
In any case, if you are looking for the best, don’t stop at just “iberico”. Look for “jamón ibérico de bellota”, black label. Often in Spain, they use “Jabugo” also (Jabugo is a small town renowned for their jamón ibérico de bellota). And Jabugo truly is the best ham on the planet (I know, bold claim). Have fun!
(How we arrived at discussing the nuances of Spanish ham on a thread devoted to Italian love in L.A., I’ll never know…) 
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You will get right in and right out. They recently expanded. Might be a little line to check out, but it won’t be bad.
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Zingerman’s is less expensive, Ibérico Bellota Ham for sale. Buy online at Zingerman's Mail Order. Gourmet Gifts. Food Gifts.. I almost said cheaper, but its not cheap…
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That’s because I’m the mod on this one and not a very strict disciplinarian. I like to keep it a little more fluid. 
BUT! To bring it back to Italian Love. I was just told for the 99th time when asking to go somewhere. “You can’t go to blank until you go to Italy.” I called homie’s bluff. I’m planning the trip to Rome in the spring… probably a hop over to Ibericoland. 
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If you want to go to Spain as well, I’d fly there from the US and then Rome. Flying out of FCO has a good chance of adding hours to the already long trip home.
yea, @TheCookie don’t get a whole let. Just get some with other things like their canned seafoods from our local purveyor
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I was kidding. I don’t have enough peeps to eat a whole leg. Baby steps. That site look…
And while we’re mentioning wholesale-ish prices for charcuterie (and since we’re on an Italian food thread) we might as well bring up Guidi Marcello.
I haven’t bought any kind of ham there to my memory but they must have some and their other charcuterie is very competitively priced
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A paleta (shoulder), though is quite manageable, AND I find it often is less fatty than the rump, while still retaining all that great taste.
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Bay Cities also sells pre-cut packets of the Cinco Jotas good stuff, FYI.
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the owner’s of bay cities are actually Basque hence the good selection of Spanish stuff
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