On the Iberico Trail with Allan Benton

Row upon row of Ibérico hams hang in the curing room.

A ham snack at Cobacha.

Trees dot the Spanish hillside.

Tempranillo flows as the group samples a variety of meats and snacks.

Benton and Jaime Oriol at Cobacha.

Benton and Oriol walk the grounds at Cobacha.

Perros at play.

Jaime Oriol (left) and cure master Manuel Maldonado confer as Benton admires the ham racks.

Allan Benton takes in his surroundings.

Jamón to go.

Cure master Manuel Maldonado.

A plate of cured duck ham in Madrid.

Jaime Oriol.

Hams on display at a Madrid tapas restaurant.

Sliced to perfection.

Admiring hams hanging in the curing room.

A lush view of the Spanish hillside.

Benton (left) and Oriol (right) with two farm workers outside an old farrowing barn.

A tree-line path through the pastureland.

The cherished acorns.

Benton and Oriol at Cobacha.

Ibérico pigs amid the oaks.

A house at the neighboring farm.

A roaring fire in the living room at Cobacha.

Related: Read “On the Iberico Trail,” by John T. Edge.