The parts of an Iberico ham and shoulder, zone by zone
Contents
A whole piece does not taste the same from one end to the other. Depending on where the knife goes in, the slice comes out fatty or lean, mild or distinctly salty. The parts of Iberico ham carry Spanish names, and six of them matter once the piece is on its stand. The paleta follows the same logic around a different bone.
The short answer
The maza is the fleshiest face of the jamón and the most marbled. The babilla, directly opposite, is the leanest and the driest. Almost everything else follows from those two faces.
- No official text defines these zones. A Spanish decree of February 2026 names them for the first time, and presents them as the most common names in use.
- Start on the maza if the piece will be eaten quickly, and on the babilla if it has to last.
- On a paleta the shoulder blade decides how you carve, and it makes the job harder.
- No published source gives the share of bone in a piece, so you will find no percentage here.
Where this information comes from
The names of the zones and the quality criteria come from Royal Decree 84/2026, dated 11 February 2026 and published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado the next day. It creates a Spanish vocational course in carving and tasting cured jamón and paleta. The definitions of the two pieces and their minimum weights come from Royal Decree 4/2014, articles 2 and 12. The carving rule comes from the manual of the Escuela Europea de Cortadores de Jamón.
The rest comes from our own practice, since we carve whole pieces all year round. We say so each time, because on this subject the line between the official text and the habits of the trade runs right through the middle of the article.
What the decree names, and what it does not define
Until 2026, no Spanish text named the zones of a ham. The quality standard for Iberico products did not, and neither did the specifications of the designations of origin. The words passed from one carver to the next, with regional variants that nobody ever settled.
The February 2026 decree changes that halfway. It asks the future carver to identify and describe “the most common names” for the parts of the jamón, and the list reads maza, babilla, punta, jarrete, contramaza, caña and pezuña, which is the trotter. It names the bones the knife will meet as well, the femur and the hip bone among them. Yet it defines none of these zones, and the word “common” tells you what they are. They belong to the trade, and no standard fixes them.
The six parts of an Iberico jamón
The decree gives seven names, and once you set aside the pezuña, six zones are left for the knife. Each one gives a different slice.
| Zone | Where it sits | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| Maza | Rear face of the thigh, bone far from the surface | The fleshiest and the most marbled |
| Babilla | Front face, between the femur and the hip bone | The leanest and the driest, often saltier |
| Contramaza | Narrow band extending the maza | Little meat, a more advanced cure |
| Punta | The end opposite the trotter, level with the hip | Held to be the fattiest and the most aromatic |
| Jarrete | Between the maza and the caña, around the tibia | Fibrous and sinewy, an intense flavour |
| Caña | The narrowest part, next to the trotter | Very little meat, diced into taquitos |
Zone names from Royal Decree 84/2026, module 5158. Positions and profiles from trade usage and our own carving.
Maza and babilla, the two faces
The maza is the rear face of the thigh, the side that carries the whole mass of the hind leg muscles. The femur sits far from the surface there, which leaves a thick layer of meat. It is the juiciest zone and the best marbled, and it dries the slowest. The 2026 decree even uses it as a visual quality criterion. On a good piece, the decree looks for a maza that is “even and wrapped in fat”.
The babilla is the opposite face, at the front of the thigh. The femur and the hip bone come close to the surface, the meat is thinner and the fat cover lighter. The same decree describes it as “lightly wrapped in fat”, in contrast with the maza. It loses its water faster and the salt concentrates, so its slices come out shorter and drier.
It is geometry, not a flaw. The meat sits closer to the bone with less protection around it, so it cures faster. Plenty of people who like long cures prefer this face for exactly that reason, because it tastes franker and more concentrated.
Three things you often read that are wrong
“The babilla is the most melting part.” It is the other way round. Of the two faces it is the leaner and the drier, and neither the decree nor the carving manuals say otherwise.
“The contramaza is also called the cadera.” Cadera is another name for the punta. The 2026 decree writes “the lower area of the punta, or cadera”.
“These zones are officially defined.” They have been officially named since 2026, which is a different thing. No text sets their boundaries.
The extremities
The punta sits at the very top of the piece, at the end opposite the trotter, level with the hip. The trade holds it to be the fattiest and most aromatic zone, and many carvers keep it for the end of a service. We share that view, and we give it for what it is, something we taste rather than something we measured.
At the other end come the jarrete and the caña. Tendons and fibres run through the meat, so a thin slice is impossible there. That is where taquitos come from, small dice to cook with or to nibble, and the bone left at the end makes a good stock.
The contramaza is the zone whose name moves around the most. Some carvers see it as a narrow band that extends the maza on the far side of the hip bone. Others use the word as a plain synonym for babilla. The decree lists both words separately and defines neither. So if two sources give you two definitions, don't be surprised. The ambiguity is real, and it isn't your doing.
To taste the difference
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Which face of the jamón to start on
No text imposes an answer. The 2026 decree asks the future carver to decide how to open the piece according to the type of service and how fast it will be eaten, among other things. That amounts to saying the choice is a matter of judgement.
The rule taught in carving schools is simple. For a piece that will go quickly, at a family meal or an event, start on the maza. It is the most generous face and gives the best slices, so you may as well serve them. For a piece you will open and eat over several months, start on the babilla.
The reason is short. The babilla dries faster, and if you keep it for last you will find it hard three months in. The maza is fattier and copes with waiting much better.
Part of the trade disputes the rule. For those carvers, drying depends above all on how the piece is looked after, on putting the fat cover back after each service and carving regularly. Both positions hold up. We follow the rule, and we look after the piece anyway. Protecting the cut face between two sessions is covered in our guide on how to store Iberico ham, and the stand and knife you need in how to choose Iberico ham. The knife work itself is a trade with its own diploma since 2026, and we cover it in our article on the maestro cortador.
The same names on a paleta, around another bone
The same names circulate for the shoulder, but the decree lists them for the jamón only. On a paleta you are fully in trade usage. Carvers talk about maza and contramaza on the same principles, with one fleshy face and one lean face.
What really changes is the bone. In a jamón the long bones run in a line, femur then tibia. A paleta has long bones too, only shorter, and above them lies the shoulder blade. It is a wide, flat bone crossed by a raised ridge, the scapular spine, which splits the carving area in two. You don't go round it. You follow its shape, mark the wall of the bone, then take out the meat lodged in the hollow separately. That is what makes a paleta more technical to carve and lowers its yield.
Weight and curing time, the rest of what sets the two pieces apart, are compared in our article on jamón vs paleta.
The weights, and what we cannot tell you
Our whole jamones come in at 7 to 8 kg, our paletas at 4 to 5 kg. The regulation only sets floors. A 100% Iberico jamón cannot be sold under that name below 5.75 kg, nor a 100% Iberico paleta below 3.7 kg. For the other Iberico categories the floors are 7 kg and 4 kg (Royal Decree 4/2014, article 12). They are labelling thresholds for the finished piece, and they say nothing about an average weight.
You will read bone and yield percentages everywhere, and we will give none. We looked for a published source on the share of bone in a jamón or a paleta, in the official texts, the designation specifications included, and in the technical literature. We found nothing. The only figures in circulation come from trade forums, quoted from memory and contradicted further down the same thread.
What you can see for yourself is that a paleta holds more bone and sinew for less meat than a jamón, so you get fewer slices for the same weight. How many fewer, nobody knows with the precision a percentage suggests.
Conclusion
Conclusion
One piece, six flavours
That is why a whole piece does not really compare with a pack. Over several months it gives you lean, concentrated slices, then wide melting ones, then frankly fatty ones, and at the end dice to cook with. The animal and the leg stay the same, and you end up with four different products.
If this is your first piece, go in this order.
- Find the widest face. That is the maza.
- Decide whether the piece has to last. If it does, start on the babilla.
- Carve regularly. Nothing keeps a started piece in better shape.
Taste it yourself
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Frequently asked questions
Which is the best part of Iberico ham?
Most carvers would name the maza, the fleshiest and best-marbled face, and the one they serve first. The punta has more aroma, though, and the babilla more concentration. One piece holds several profiles, and the best of them is the one that suits your palate.
Is the babilla the fattiest part?
No, the babilla is the leaner of the two faces. It is the front face, where the femur and the hip bone come close to the surface. There is less meat and less fat cover, so it dries faster. The decree sets it against the maza on exactly that point, the amount of fat around it.
What are the jamón cuts called in English?
We keep the Spanish names, because English has no shared words for them. In plain English, the maza is the thick rear face of the thigh and the babilla the thinner front face. The punta is the hip end, the jarrete the shank, and the caña the narrow part just above the trotter.
What do you do with the shank and the bone?
You cut the jarrete and the caña into taquitos, small dice for cooking or for serving with drinks. Both are too fibrous for a thin slice. The bone left at the end gives a good stock for a soup or a pot of pulses.
How much does a whole Iberico ham weigh?
Ours weigh 7 to 8 kg for a jamón and 4 to 5 kg for a paleta. Spanish law sets a floor rather than an average, 5.75 kg for a 100% Iberico jamón and 3.7 kg for a 100% Iberico paleta. The floors rise to 7 kg and 4 kg for the other Iberico categories.
Sources
- Royal Decree 84/2026, dated 11 February 2026 and published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 12 February 2026. Modules 5158 and 5159 of the specialisation course in carving and tasting cured jamón and paleta give the zone names, the bone names and the visual assessment criteria. Reread on 29 October 2026.
- Royal Decree 4/2014, articles 2 and 12, for the anatomical definition of the jamón and the paleta and their minimum weights. Reread on 29 October 2026.
- Manual del cortador, Escuela Europea de Cortadores de Jamón, for the carving order and the choice of starting face.
- Zone positions, tasting profiles and carving practice come from our daily work. No share of bone and no yield figure has been published to date, so we put forward none.
Read next
- Jamón vs paleta, which Iberico piece to choose
- How to choose Iberico ham, a buying guide in four questions
- White spots on ham, and what the crystals on a slice really are
Written by
Valentin & Pablo
Founders of LOLO Jamón
We select our pieces in the drying cellars of the Salamanca dehesa, and we carve them all year round.
One whole piece, six zones to taste
Jamones of 7 to 8 kg and paletas of 4 to 5 kg, bellota or cebo de campo, from the Salamanca dehesa.
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