Ham for $196 a pound?

The 15 lb. leg of a Spanish pig raised on a diet of acorns and roots and coined as "the world's most expensive ham" went on sale this week at a department store in London for close to $3,000. Yep, that's just over $196 a pound. Several years and much delicate care went into cultivating such a speciman says the BBC:

After being slaughtered their ham was salted and cured for three years, before going on sale in a hand-made wooden box wrapped in an apron made by a Spanish tailor.

"Connoisseurs will appreciate the melt-in-the-mouth texture of this truly amazing Spanish ham," said Selfridges fresh food Buyer Andrew Cavanna.

"The leg may seem to have a large price tag but when you think about the amount of care taken from breeding right through to the curing, it is actually amazing value.

The Guardian, however, suggests that Selfridges' "most expensive" label is bogus, claiming you can get the same ham cheaper online and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, we've got acorn-fed porcine in our very own backyard. Iowa's La Quercia makes some of the most applauded acorn and non-acorn fed prosciuttos, salumis, and other pork products in the entire country, which you can get at a number of places in the Twin Cities.

And for far far less than $3,000.