OK, I am trying to eat less meat. For good reason, I think. Meat in general is a poor, ineffective way to provide protein to humans, producing more CO₂ and using much more space than alternative vegetable products. If you want to find out more about the environmental cost of food, look at this research from Oxford University.

However, I am still human and was raised with the idea that eating meat every day would be the ultimate evidence of success (my folks did not eat meat more than three times a week). As I am unlearning this idealized pattern, I try to be very selective about which meat I eat, both from a quality perspective and from an animal welfare and environmental point of view. Enter Ibérico pork.

(Image from Wikimedia, author comacut, full credits here).

Traditionally, these pigs are more or less ranging free in mixed oak forests, feeding on acorns and other natural resources (and yes, I know, this does not help deforestation).

Ibérico ham may be the best known cut of meat; but my personal favorites are Ibérico sausages and hamburger patties. They contain a naturally high percentage of fat and turn out very juicy.  

Practically speaking, when you cook Ibérico hamburgers, make sure the meat is done in the center. The food safety minimum core temperature is 63° Celsius or 145° Fahrenheit. More about meat temperatures here.

Serve with a salad and some grilled tomato and onion.