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Having discovered the joys of French wine, caviar and truffles, China’s new rich are turning to a new gourmet delicacy to satisfy their demand for luxury goods from the west: Spain’s jamón ibérico, or Iberian ham. But demand is now threatening to outstrip supply, leaving Spaniards facing steep price rises in their most prized Christmas delicacy.
继法国葡萄酒、鱼子酱和松露之后，热爱西方奢侈品的中国新富们又爱上了一种新美味——西班牙的伊比利亚火腿。但是，由于需求过旺导致供不应求，现在西班牙人不得不眼睁睁地看着他们最重要的圣诞美食价格飞涨。
The recent lifting of import restrictions has allowed top-of-the-range ham to find its “rightful place in the market, alongside caviar and truffles”, René Lemée, the head of exports for the famous Cinco Jotas brand, told El País newspaper.
著名的伊比利亚火腿品牌Cinco Jotas的出口部负责人勒内?雷米告诉《国家报》说，前不久中国取消了伊比利亚火腿的进口限制，让这一顶级火腿找到了自己“在市场上和鱼子酱、松露比肩的合理位置”。
The Chinese, pork lovers par excellence, have now been seduced by jamón ibérico. The problem is that the best ham takes years to produce and, as demand outstrips supply, it is pushing up the price by as much as 10%. A 7.5kg leg sells at between 150 and 600.
超爱吃猪肉的中国人如今被伊比利亚火腿给俘获了。问题在于，最好的火腿需要数年的生产时间，因为供不应求的原因，价格已经上涨了10%。现在一条7.5公斤的火腿售价在150欧元到600欧元之间（合人民币1180元到4721元之间）。
Not only are there relatively small areas of dehesa – mostly in north-west and western Spain – but each pig needs about two hectares to fulfil its needs. Once slaughtered, the animals’ legs are plunged into vats of salt and hung and dry-cured over a range of temperatures for a minimum of 36 months, with the best hams cured for about 48 months.
且不说橡树牧场的面积有限（主要分布在西班牙西北部和西部），每头猪至少需要两公顷地的产出才能吃饱。一旦被宰杀，猪腿将插入盐缸里，然后挂起来干腌，在不同温度下经过至少36个月才能制成，最优质的火腿要腌制48个月。
“It’s inevitable that the price in Spain is going to rise,” said Roberto Batres, the director of Shanghai de Delaiberia Gold, which exports ham, wine and olive oil to China. “The companies licenced to trade in China don’t have enough jamón de bellota to meet Chinese demand.”
“西班牙火腿价格上涨是不可避免的。”向中国出口火腿、葡萄酒和橄榄油的享肴商贸（上海）有限公司的总监罗伯托?巴特雷斯说，“在中国有经销权的公司没有足够的伊比利亚火腿来满足中国人的需求。”
In an effort to meet demand the Chinese have started importing raw frozen pork from Iberian pigs and curing the meat themselves, although Batres says the product is excessively salty.
为了满足国人吃伊比利亚火腿的需求，中国人开始进口冷冻伊比利亚生猪肉来自己腌制火腿，不过巴特雷斯说，中国人腌制的这种火腿产品特别咸。
