HAMS & SAUSAGES

Don't confuse them with grains of salt

These small white spots that can sometimes be seen on ham are often mistaken for grains of salt. However, they are usually tyrosine crystals.

Tyrosine is one of the 20 amino acids that make up proteins, which are essential for life. It is a non-essential amino acid, as our body can produce it from another essential amino acid: phenylalanine, provided that our diet supplies enough of it.

Its name in English is Tyrosine, and its abbreviations are Tyr and Y.

Without going into too much technical detail, tyrosine has a particular structure that allows small crystals to form.

The word tyrosine comes from the Greek tyros, meaning “cheese”. It was given this name because this amino acid was discovered by the German chemist Justus von Liebig from casein, a protein found in cheese.

Most importantly, the presence of these small tyrosine crystals is not, by itself, a sign of quality. Rather, it is an indication of a slow, natural and traditional curing process. The crystals can form naturally during the dehydration of the ham. They can be found in both Ibérico and Serrano hams.

The quality of a ham, on the other hand, depends on every stage of its production and the care taken at each step. It is this expertise and craftsmanship that ultimately shines through in the product we enjoy.