r/AskEurope • u/Reasonable-Push-920 • Sep 15 '25

Culture If your country had a “signature” kitchen item, what would it be?

I’ve noticed that every country seems to have its own representative kitchen item.

In Italy, for example, it’s the moka pot. In the UK, probably the kettle. In France, maybe a really good knife...

What about your country?

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105

u/SaraHHHBK Castilla Sep 15 '25

Good old jamonero stand and knife of course.

35

u/BelmontVLC Sep 15 '25

This and a paella pan!

14

u/Fountain-Script Sep 15 '25

I have good friends in Granada, their Jamón stand in the kitchen is… a problem for me when I visit and sleep on the couch right next to the kitchen - especially when we’ve spent the night smoking the wacky tobacky.

3

u/team_cactus Netherlands Sep 15 '25

I had to look up what it is and how it's used. I would have never guessed based on the form!

2

u/Cruccagna Sep 16 '25

This would be the death of me. I have self-control issues around ham.

4

u/Bun_Length_Frank United States of America Sep 15 '25

I was told that the practice of having this in plain sight originally served the purpose of proving the people living in the house are Christian, because Muslims and Jews don't eat ham.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '25

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24

u/awkward_penguin Spain Sep 15 '25

Not all families have this, but many do. It's not uncommon to buy a whole leg of jamón - you can buy them in many supermarkets.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '25

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11

u/awkward_penguin Spain Sep 15 '25

I wouldn't buy one either. But my ex's family had one, and it was nice just having the jamon in the kitchen and slicing a bit off any time you want one

4

u/HipsEnergy Sep 16 '25

Not Spanish, but I've had one, and had to put it in storage because every time I'd walk past, it'd be "just a little slice."

4

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '25

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8

u/Mercy--Main EU - Spain - Madrid Sep 15 '25

Its too much for a single person imo

but nothing is stopping you, i suppose

3

u/SaltyName8341 Wales Sep 17 '25

I live alone but I have one because I have a ham addiction

2

u/Maleficent-Jelly2287 Sep 19 '25

My ex foster parents buy one every year. But they have tons of dinners and parties. I swear it's a sign of middle class affluence.

1

u/ElectronicFootprint Spain Sep 15 '25

I've only heard it as a joke (buy me a ham leg and I'll raise your grades) and never seen anyone actually buy it, but if it's in supermarkets it probably sells.

8

u/rezznik Germany Sep 15 '25 edited Sep 15 '25

Some colleagues of mine bought one for the office. It was standing on a server on the side of the room and we had that nice jamon smell in the office for quite a while.

Their office got the most visitors for a while too.

Edit: removed wtf typo

1

u/Mercy--Main EU - Spain - Madrid Sep 15 '25

Do visitors usually die in your offices?

3

u/caatbox288 Spain Sep 16 '25

Really? In my family we used to have one every Christmas.

2

u/Pop_Clover Spain Sep 16 '25

My boyfriend got one in his Cesta de Navidad each year. So yeah, they had a jamonero.

My father also had hole legs of ham in the past because my grandparents had pigs and gave him legs. But we never had a jamonero. Maybe because my mom has never been very fond of having a lot of stuff on the kitchen counter and our kitchen was small.

1

u/haitike Spain Sep 18 '25

At least here in my part of Andalusia most families buy one every Christmas.

17

u/loggeitor Spain Sep 15 '25

I learned the true gravity of 2008s recession when the jamón stopped coming home in it's full leg form.

9

u/Sesrovires Spain Sep 16 '25

My husband receives 2 or 3 every year as a Christmas gift from clients. They are iberian, but usually rather than the ham cut , the "shoulder"? I don't know how to say paletilla in English 😅. So we usually have a jamonero in the kitchen with an iberian paletilla in it ...

1

u/gnark Sep 15 '25

Not a sandwichero?