The assertion that if there were no jamon, then Columbus would not have sailed to America, is not without foundation, since there were no canned food in those days, and the voyages continued for months. The common translation of the word “jamon”, as ham, is at least inaccurate, since jamon is a dry-cured, not boiled product, and strong teeth will not be superfluous for its use. Its safety is unrivaled, on one of my trips to Spain the temperature there went off scale over 40, but this did not cause any harm to the piece of jamon bought at the beginning of the trip.→