On March 5, 2013, the Manchester United board decided to bet on a daring and convincing Spaniard who offered to cut quality Iberian ham in the VIP box at the Old Trafford stadium. What better way, he made them see, to welcome the visiting team, Real Madrid. With goals from Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo, the victory went to the whites, but also to José Sol (Madrid, 50 years old), who became the club's official supplier and cutter from then until today. He has been called the “messiah of ham” in Great Britain, and few people have done as much as him to spread among the English public the excellence of ham from Iberian pigs. Just a few months after setting foot on British territory as a representative of a ham company from Soria, with the mission of opening markets, the financial crisis collapsed the Spanish economy. José, his wife Nana—his partner and ally all these years—and their two children were left with one hand in front and one behind, but also with the irresistible intuition that they had arrived in a country that invited them to take on the world. “It was very hard. Talking about ham 13 years ago was very difficult. In the United Kingdom, prosciutto and Parma ham were known. I was the first to exclusively promote Iberian ham here, when the boom we are experiencing now did not exist,” José recalls. He had landed in Southampton, and held on to jobs in the city's port while he devised his business venture, and registered the Spanish Ham Masters brand. The hackneyed saying that “good cloth is sold in the chest” has deceived many Spaniards who, as soon as they arrive in England, are amazed that the island has not yet surrendered unconditionally to Iberian ham, and is content with softer and sweeter Italian alternatives. José Sol understood that it was not enough to vacuum pack a few slices and sneak them into a supermarket. Just as the documentary The Truffle Hunters seduced the world with those lonely grandparents from Piedmont and their dogs, connoisseurs of the secret places in the forest where the coveted white Alba truffle is found, the master ham maker from London knew that his product needed a story, an art exhibition and a staging. The opportunity arose when a powerful British lawyer from the financial City allowed himself to be convinced by Sol to incorporate a ham cutter at his housewarming event. With three months to spare, the businessman, who was still an amateur with the ham knife, returned to Spain to take all the necessary courses. He returned to London as a professional cutter. “I realize that it is a show, that people love it, that they want to stand next to me to take photos,” he explains. And he also understands that he must select very select hams for each occasion, from small companies, with a family component and a history that makes them unique. Like caviar, white truffle or French champagne, Iberian ham must be at the pinnacle of excellence. “We laugh a lot at the British, because their cuisine was very poor, but they are enormously respectful of the product, more than we are ourselves. And they are passionate about the history of that product,” he says. Private events, cutting courses, tastings with wines or spirits. José Sol is a classic in such British events as the Royal Ascot races or the Chelsea flower festival, but before he cut for the G Men in his dressing room, before their concert in London, or introduced ham at the Royal Albert Hall for the performance of David Bisbal.Princes William and Harry have glued themselves to their table to savor the freshly cut ham, and the then mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was also fascinated by the product. Although perhaps the most striking story was that of the party at which José served Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino. The film director kept asking him questions, as if he could already imagine the cutter in a Kill Bill 3 with his ham knife. The ham messiah does not neglect the British market, but has already taken his exhibitions and cutting courses to the United States, Russia, South Korea and Australia. By 2023 it has been proposed to jump to the conquest of China.
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