Lomo embuchado
Also known as Lomo Embuchado
-, Nationwide, Spain
Lean, deep red and paprika-scented, a prized cured loin, finest from iberico pigs.
Overview
Lomo Embuchado is lean, deep red and paprika-scented, a prized cured loin, finest from iberico pigs. A straight cylindrical loin with deep red lean, little visible fat and a paprika-red seasoned edge. The slice should be dense and tender, never hollow, case-hardened or excessively salty.
Where it's from
Climate. Made across Spain; finest from the iberico dehesa.
Altitude. Various
The cut
How to recognise it
A straight cylindrical loin with deep red lean, little visible fat and a paprika-red seasoned edge. The slice should be dense and tender, never hollow, case-hardened or excessively salty. Shape and size: Cured loin, cylindrical. Lean colour: Deep red, paprika-edged. Fat and marbling: Lean, thin cap. Casing or exterior: Beef, 50-70. Surface: Possible. The form is cured loin, cylindrical. the lean is deep red, paprika-edged. the fat or marbling is lean, thin cap. and the exterior uses beef, 50-70. A hard dry rim, wet grey centre, rancid fat, sourness or air beneath a casing indicates an uneven or contaminated cure.
- Shape and size
- Cured loin, cylindrical
- Lean colour
- Deep red, paprika-edged
- Fat and marbling
- Lean, thin cap
- Casing
- Beef, 50-70
- Surface bloom
- Possible
Origins and history
A cured pork loin, one of Spain's most prized cuts, marinated in pimenton, garlic and oregano, then stuffed into a casing and dry-cured for a couple of months. Lean and deep red, it is the whole-muscle counterpart to chorizo, sharing its paprika and garlic but without the mince. Iberico versions from acorn-fed pigs are especially esteemed.
Unlike chorizo, the loin remains intact. Pimentón, garlic and wine colour and perfume the exterior while slow drying preserves a dense, lean centre. The technique allowed one of the pig's most valuable muscles to be served in thin raw slices.
Name. Lomo, 'loin'; embuchado, 'stuffed into a casing'.
- Production today
- Made across Spain; iberico versions prized.
- Protection
- Not EU-protected as a general name (iberico rules apply to iberico versions).
- Tradition vs modern
- A lean, paprika-marinated whole-muscle cure.
- Seasonality
- Traditionally the winter matanza.
Compare with. Cecina de León, Chorizo
Serving and cultural significance
Eaten raw and sliced thin, never cooked. It is a tapas and tabla staple, served alone or with bread and olive oil, alongside manchego, membrillo or olives, and it stands up well to a glass of red or a dry sherry. Because it is lean, cut it fine so it melts rather than chews.
Recipe and cure
This is not a finished recipe. It is a window into how this meat is traditionally cured. Before you follow any process, please run it through one of our curing calculators, so the salt, cure and timings are right and safe for your own batch.
Make this — the measured Curesmith version →The cure below is the traditional reference. “Make this” opens the measured Curesmith home recipe, scaled to your batch.
Traditional or protected production
Lomo embuchado is a whole pork loin cured with salt and characteristic seasoning, then enclosed in a permeable casing and dried. When sold as Ibérico, its racial and feeding designation must follow the national Ibérico standard. The generic product is not an EU geographical indication.
The reference process can be summarised as follows: Trim the whole loin, salt and marinate with pimentón, garlic and permitted liquids, enclose it tightly in a permeable casing and dry to the required physical and analytical characteristics.
- Meat
- pork
- Cut
- loin
- Salt (%)
- 1.875
- Curing salt
- Traditionally salt with a little Cure #2
- Fermented
- No
- Starter or mould
- Possible
- Smoked
- No
- Target aW or weight loss
- ~ weight loss
- Temperature (°C)
- 12 to 15
- Humidity (%)
- 75 to 80
- Maturation
- 2 to 4 months
- Basis
- percentage of green meat weight
- Style
- Marinated and dry-cured loin (EQ-style)
Ingredients
- coarse sea salt1.875% · 18.75 g/kg
- sugar0.625% · 6.25 g/kg
- lard/manteca5% · 50 g/kg
- garlic5% · 50 g/kg
- pimentón dulce1% · 10 g/kg
- Cure #2 (optional)0.3% · 3 g/kg
Method
- Rub the loin with salt, pimenton, garlic and oregano.
- Rest cold so the cure and marinade draw in.
- Stuff into a casing.
- Dry-cure to the target loss.
Notes
- Recipe reconciled to the fuller traditional cure, with the starter culture, curing salt and the complete spicing recorded as ingredients.
In the Codex
What this product teaches, and where to read more.
Temple. Pillar, Meat Quality