Video: Naked Ham Man In Banned British Commercial

I knew it was going to be a good day when I woke up this morning, turned on the computer to browse the news on CNN.com, and came across a hot naked man singing to a ham sandwich.

Admittedly, such imagery isn’t to everyone’s taste (seriously? But there’s cured meat!). But that’s not why Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned this witty commercial for Richmond Ham. It got, uh, canned, for a failure to uphold truthful standards in advertising, by declaring itself “Britain’s only natural ham made with 100% natural ingredients.” The ham is actually made in Ireland.


Photo of the Day – Barcelona jamon


The humble ham and cheese sandwich is a basic staple of the travel diet. In nearly every country I’ve traveled to, I can count on finding a cheap and tasty toasted ham and cheese at a snack bar or cafe while exploring a new city. With a nice glass of local wine or a cold beer, this simple sandwich can be sublime. The Spanish, however, have made ham an art form, noted by this display in Barcelona taken by Flickr user BaboMike. From the relatively cheap Pernil Bodega to the pricey (but worth it) Pernil Iberic de Gla, any of these would make a divine snack or a meal. Since I live in a Muslim country where pork is hard to find and expensive, I remember eyeing ham like this in Barcelona like a wolf in an old cartoon and contemplated bringing one home to be the envy of all my fellow expats in Istanbul.

Do you agree with the photographer that the Spanish out-do the Italians in the ham department? Where have you had the best ham? Upload your tastiest shots to the Gadling Flickr pool and we might salivate over them for a future Photo of the Day.

Spanish ham, sweet Spanish ham

For those of you pork-eaters in the US who have never tried made-in-Spain Jamon (ham) Ibérico, now that you can avail of it in again locally, jump on the opportunity because you don’t know what you have been missing.

Although produced in the US since 2005, it’s import from Spain had been prohibited by the USDA because Spain’s slaughter houses did not adhere to it’s safety regulations, and presumably because of the pig-borne viral swine virus that was prominent in Europe years ago. Last week, the ban was lifted and now authentic Ibérico can be bought in the US at a cost of US$50-$100 a pound, depending on the type.

This ham is the Spanish delicacy I can’t get enough of. A general fan of sausages, cold ham and bacon, since I have been introduced to cured Spanish ham, it has happily replaced my desire for any other pork production. I will eat it anytime, anyhow, anywhere — sometimes even preferring it to dessert (*gasp*). I am a regular customer at Madrid’s Ham Museums where you can nip in for a cold beer and a plate of ham that fits your budget.
Jamon Ibérico is made from the Iberian pig that is bred in Southwestern Spain and Southeastern Portugal, for a period of 14-36 months. Good ham in general is also called “Jamon de Pata Negra” (ham of the pig with black feet), the most expensive is the acorn fed Jamon de Bellota that in Spain costs atleast US$720 for an entire leg.

Yes, extremely expensive, so most of the time I have to resort to a ham of lesser quality and appreciate its remote similarity to Jamon Ibérico, but now and again it is something I generously pay for.

I would say eating ham in Spain is like eating noodles in China, households rarely go without it. Also, eating and gifting high-quality ham is a sign of status in Spain; for Christmas (for example), it is not uncommon for the Spanish to gift each other legs of ham.

Knowing how to buy ham and then how to cut it is an art in itself that I am still clueless about, but am determined to understand at some point very soon.