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Presunto de Barrancos com Pão Alentejano

Pork · Presunto de Barrancos

The Portuguese tasting board for Alentejano black-pig PDO ham — paper-thin slices on warm Alentejano bread, with cheese, olives, and a glass of vinho tinto from the same region. A pre-meal Portuguese ritual.

Serves 4Prep 15 minCook 0 min
What to ask for
This recipe calls for Presunto de Barrancos. Can't get it where you are?

Ingredients & method

Ingredients

  • 150 g Presunto de Barrancos PDO, hand-cut into paper-thin slices
  • 1 loaf pão Alentejano, sliced thick
  • 200 g Queijo de Évora or aged Manchego, in wedges
  • 100 g Galega olives or other Portuguese olives
  • Extra-virgin olive oil from the Alentejo
  • Black pepper
  • Wedges of fresh fig (in season)
  • 1 bottle of Alentejano red wine

Method

  1. 1Bring the presunto to room temperature 45 minutes before serving — chilled, the cure has none of its sweetness.
  2. 2Lightly warm the bread in a low oven or on a dry pan — it shouldn't toast, just soften and release its scent.
  3. 3Arrange the presunto loosely on a wooden board in overlapping rosettes. Don't lay flat.
  4. 4Place the cheese, olives, and figs alongside.
  5. 5Drizzle the bread (not the ham) with olive oil and crack a little black pepper.
  6. 6Eat slowly, alternating between the ham, the cheese, and small sips of wine.

Cook this well

Steak searing in a cast-iron skillet beside an unbranded knife

$$ · everyday prep, trimming, and carving

Slice against the grain cleanly every time

Slicing steak, trimming small amounts of fat, chopping aromatics, and general kitchen work.

Victorinox Fibrox Pro 8-Inch Chef's Knife

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Chef's tip
Presunto de Barrancos is intensely concentrated — small slices and lots of bread is the right ratio. Don't pair with anything sharp; it dominates.

Cook this later?Save the recipe, then keep notes on what worked and what you'd change next time.
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