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Spaniards face ham shortage as Chinese market gets taste for jamón ibérico

theguardian.com

111–120 of 153 posts

Re: Spaniards face ham shortage as Chinese market gets taste for jamón ibérico

#111
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They must be aware that will run into geographical indication protection. Similarly to Italians making cheese all over Europe, but being unable to call it Parmesan. So in the end, they can have a product that will taste very similarly, but they will have to sell them under different name.

The US isn't as strict as Europe when it comes to enforcing those sorts of rules. For example you can buy bottles of US made sparkling wine labeled "California Champagne" and various cheese like products labeled "Parmensan" that have never been anywhere near Italy.

As i understand it "Parmigiano Reggiano" is the protected term. Parmesan cheese is the whatever-product.

Re: Spaniards face ham shortage as Chinese market gets taste for jamón ibérico

#112
post #18
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only 20 foreign movies are allowed into China per year. Unless part of the movie takes place in China. Lots of movies have a special cut, just for that reason.

Modern blockbuster movies are already plagued with hectic editing and an overabundance of excuses-for-people-to-be-making-a-helicopter-landing. But some of the Chinese scenes/collaboration have worked out nicely. I can't be the only American ignorant of Chinese cityscapes. The Shanghai scene in "Skyfall" was one of the most movie's visually memorable images. Maybe "Pacific Rim"'s latter half would have taken place in…

Random trivia: significant parts of that Shanghai scene weren't in Shanghai. I did quite a double-take when bond walked off the street in Shanghai and into the lobby of my accountant's tower, here in London.

Re: Spaniards face ham shortage as Chinese market gets taste for jamón ibérico

#114
post #5

Besides this ham, evidently Chinese demand has been blamed for the global shortage of avocados [0] and the lack of butter in France [1]. I've personally most noticed the effect when it comes to wide-release movies, in which the heroes manage to find some reason to end up for a brief scene in China, or to use Chinese brand products -- Civil War, Transformers, and Robocop come to mind. There's also the suspicion that A…

They also are responsible for a shortage of baby milk powder and baby food from Germany, the Chinese buying all markets empty. At least that was in the news a few years ago

They’re is an import quota on formula. You can import a small amount for a few days use. Anything greater is regarded as smuggling.

Re: Spaniards face ham shortage as Chinese market gets taste for jamón ibérico

#115
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This always reminds me that the city of Chongqing has 30m people and most people have never heard of it.

It's closer to 6-7 million: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16761784 Many of the 30 million people who are said to live in the city of Chongqing are actually agricultural workers living in a rural setting, he says. In fact, he says, the area is so huge it's about the size of Austria.

Hangzhou is 9m in the urban area, and I’d never heard of it when I went to visit a friend there. There are very few points of interest there: it’s a bit like Fresno, only with 20x the population.

Re: Spaniards face ham shortage as Chinese market gets taste for jamón ibérico

#116
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US isn't as strict as Europe when it comes to enforcing those sorts of rules. For example you can buy bottles of US made sparkling wine labeled "California Champagne" and various cheese like products labeled "Parmensan" that have never been anywhere near Italy.

As i understand it "Parmigiano Reggiano" is the protected term. Parmesan cheese is the whatever-product.

That might be true for the US, in the EU both Parmigiano Reggiano and Parmesan cheese are protected.

Re: Spaniards face ham shortage as Chinese market gets taste for jamón ibérico

#117
post #92

We spaniards are just absolutely terrible at marketing. Every time that I see how italians have managed to convince the world to consume their produces, I feel ashamed. And when we finally manage to get recognition, we can't meet the demand because we are not set up to deal with international demand. I hope this trend continues and we find new, healthier ways to expand our economy.

I feel the same as Portuguese. Granted we just don't carry the weight of the likes of Spain/France/Italy. But we are just so bad at exporting, it's unreal. I live in the UK and it's common to see all sorts of wines and meats from southern European countries in the supermarkets. Portugal will have 1 or 2 bottles of wine, typically from vineyards owned by UK nationals in Portugal. Even our Port - which is world famous…

Like the Ponte 25 de Abril vs Gold Gate case, is often used as an example of underselling, USA is so good at it, might be the movie's effect.

Re: Spaniards face ham shortage as Chinese market gets taste for jamón ibérico

#118
post #66
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's not. You're going to find it very hard to get Jamón Ibérico de Bellota outside Spain - from what I saw, they mostly export the jamón serrano. I'm pretty sure you can make the difference between the two - though, to be completely honest, it's not THAT big and I'm not sure it's worth the price difference.

You always have nice and expensive jamon iberico de bellota restaurants in France. It’s good! If you’re in Lyon there is one in les halles de bocuse

You can find it in some supermarkets too, at least in Paris. There is even a chain of stores named after bellota that mostly sells it (and a little caviar too): https://www.bellota-bellota.com/en/magasins

It is, indeed, an exceptional product. IMHO, nothing comes close (in that category of products).

Re: Spaniards face ham shortage as Chinese market gets taste for jamón ibérico

#119
post #60

Worth every penny -Spanish/Portuguese Iberico ham is sensational, melts in your mouth whilst bursting with flavour. As good as the best: Japanese Tuna Sashimi, Scottish grass fed Rib Eye steak, Iclandic Cod, US CheeseBurger, Bordeaux Wine, Thai Dom Yum Goong, Indian Tandori Chicken, Chineese Peeking Duck, Berlin Curryworst, Portuguese Custard Tart, Italian Margarita Pizza, French Butter Croissants or even Mcdonald’s…

Worth every penny Yes and no. Plenty of "good enough" Spanish/Portuguese Iberico ham is definitely worth it. The super high end stuff costing ~€100/kg that this article seems to largely be about I probably wouldn't consider "worth every penny" and I'd probably rather have twice as much ham costing 'only' €50/kg given a choice.

Have you tried bellota? It's very different from "simple" spanish ham, and, IMHO, well worth the extra price.

Re: Spaniards face ham shortage as Chinese market gets taste for jamón ibérico

#120
post #112
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Modern blockbuster movies are already plagued with hectic editing and an overabundance of excuses-for-people-to-be-making-a-helicopter-landing. But some of the Chinese scenes/collaboration have worked out nicely. I can't be the only American ignorant of Chinese cityscapes. The Shanghai scene in "Skyfall" was one of the most movie's visually memorable images. Maybe "Pacific Rim"'s latter half would have taken place in…

Random trivia: significant parts of that Shanghai scene weren't in Shanghai. I did quite a double-take when bond walked off the street in Shanghai and into the lobby of my accountant's tower, here in London.

Other interesting examples:

Longmire, set in Wyoming, never set foot in Wyoming.

The Walking Dead has moved on to Virginia, but it's still filmed here in Georgia. Everyone complains about the grass "being cut," but that's realistic. It just doesn't grow, especially when there's no rain.

No one comments on how weird it is that, early on, the military firebombed downtown Atlanta to give survivors an edge, even though most of the population is out in the suburbs and exurbs. Torching all the population centers along I-85, I-20, and University Parkway would have given more people a clearer path to defensible locations. I don't care because it was a great scene, but it's weird how people's pedantry is rarely informed by actual knowledge.

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