Lomo - the undiscovered Spanish delicacy

What is lomo? Spanish lomo can be purchased fresh or cured, the latter being a real delicacy and a cured Spanish meat with a wonderfully unique flavour. Premium cured lomo per kilo is more expensive than its Spanish ham counterpart and depending on our taste buds, rivals Spain’s most famous cured export in the flavour department. Iberico lomo from the acorn fed Iberian pigs really is a gastronomic experience in every sense of the word – nutty flavour, melt in the mouth texture and fabulous aroma.

Lomo is a pork tenderloin, the finest choice of meat from the pig. In Spain you can buy lomo in various forms. Firstly there is Lomo de Cabeza this cut is from the top end of the loin and is marbled with fat – ideal if you prefer a little more fat in your meat. Secondly there is Lomo de Corteza, this is a piece of pure loin with around half an inch of fat on one side, the main characteristic of this piece is the rind which is also present. Lastly we have simply Lomo, a prime piece of cured tenderloin with hardly any fat present, this is the most expensive but you will know where your pennies have gone when your wafer thin slices literally melt in the mouth.

One local speciality in the Altiplano region of Granada in Andalucia is Lomo de Orza. This pork is not cured but preserved, pork chunks are slowly fried and seasoned before being preserved in extra virgin olive oil, each butcher or “carniceria” having their own preferred recipe passed down from grandfathers and grandmothers. This pork is the most expensive as every batch has to be hand made and all the fat is trimmed resulting in something very special indeed.

So there we have the finest four examples of Spanish pork tenderloin, a cured meat definitely not for the packed lunch box but to truly savour with a drizzle of extra virgin, a fine red and perhaps a slim wedge or two of Manchego…

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