Dry-Cured Lacón
Dry-cured “lacón” is a traditional dried and ripened meat product made in the NW of Spain (autonomous communities of Galicia, Asturias, and NW of Castilla y León) from the fore leg of the pig cut at the shoulder blade-humerus joint, following a manufacturing process very similar to that used in the manufacture of dry-cured hams. Raw pieces are firstly dry-salted and then dried and ripened for variable times under appropriate environmental conditions. Depending on the degree of ripening, the final product can be consumed both raw or cooked after a desalting process. According to the aims of the book in which it is included, in this chapter the manufacture process of the dry-cured “lacón” is described in depth also providing very brief information on the biochemical and microbiological characteristics of the final product.