No. 61Spanish CondimentSpain 2026Begur, Costa Brava

Jamón Dust

Name: Jamón Dust
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 100 g Jamón Serrano; 1 tbs Panko Breadcrumbs

Fat is the enemy of powder.

John DrummondWritten 12 October 2026For Diana

A white dish of fine brick-red jamón powder with a teaspoon in it, and baked slices of jamón on baking paper behind

Prep10min

Cook15min

All up25min

LevelEasy

Mise en place

What you need

Tick each one off as it goes in.

100 gJamón Serranothinly sliced
1 tbsPanko Breadcrumbsoptional — only if the ground powder is still slightly greasy

The method

Five moves.

Jamón, Press
Lay the slices flat in a single layer between two sheets of baking paper, then sandwich between two oven trays. The top tray keeps them flat and presses the fat out as they cook.
Bake
160°C for 10–15 minutes, checking from 10, until the slices are deep red and shatter-crisp. Thinner slices go faster — pull any that are done early.
Drain, Cool
Transfer to paper towel to blot remaining fat, then cool completely. They must be fully cool and brittle — any residual warmth means residual grease.
Grind
Snap into pieces and blitz in a spice/coffee grinder in short pulses to a fine powder. If it clumps or looks greasy, add the panko and pulse again.
Store
Airtight container in the fridge. Keeps a couple of weeks.

Same day, same pool in Begur as the Nachos Españoles — and this one was my wife Diana’s idea, so the credit is hers.

Crispy oven-baked jamón blitzed into a savoury umami powder for sprinkling on just about everything. Makes roughly ⅓ cup from 100 g of jamón.

The one rule: fat is the enemy of powder. Jamón is fatty, and if you don’t press and drain the fat out during cooking you’ll end up with a greasy paste instead of a dust. Everything in the method below is built around getting the slices bone-dry and shatter-crisp before grinding.

Serrano or even prosciutto powders better than ibérico — leaner and drier, and much cheaper to experiment with; save the ibérico for eating.

Sprinkle it on fried or scrambled eggs. Popcorn (with a little smoked paprika — outrageous). Mac and cheese or any gratin. Roast cauliflower, brussels sprouts, or chips. Avocado toast. Nachos Españoles — dust over the top after the cold toppings go on. Croquetas, soups, deviled eggs, even vanilla ice cream if you’re feeling Spanish-cheffy.

Don’t bring jamón home in your luggage — pork products are prohibited through Australian biosecurity and will be seized. (The tin of pimentón is fine.)

Buy locally instead: Spanish Deli (spanishdeli.com.au) imports Spanish jamón legs and sliced packs compliantly and delivers Australia-wide; Manettas and good delis also stock sliced ibérico and serrano. Supermarket prosciutto works fine for the powder.

Amazon doesn’t sell jamón powder — it’s a make-it-yourself chef technique, not a retail product. (Searching “jamon powder” mostly returns jamun, an Indian fruit. Not the same energy.)

Big-batch tip: crisp the slices ahead and store them whole in an airtight container, then grind fresh as needed — the powder holds aroma better that way.

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