Presa vs Pluma vs Secreto: Which Ibérico Cut to Choose

Why they have no English name

On a British or American butcher’s chart these muscles stay part of the shoulder, the loin and the belly. Spanish butchers take them out and sell them on their own: on an Ibérico pig they are marbled enough to cook like steak. What separates them is thickness, which decides how you cook and slice each one.

Which one to choose

Presa, for a piece to carve

Buy presa when you want slices on a board, pink in the middle, with the bite of a steak. Being thick, it gives you time to watch the thermometer, so it suits a barbecue (US: grill) and a table of guests.

Pluma, for a quick supper

Pluma means “feather”, after its shape. It is thinner and more tender than presa and needs only a few minutes a side: a weeknight cut for a hot frying pan (US: skillet) or a plancha, the Spanish flat griddle.

Secreto, for fat and crunch

If crackling is your favourite part of a pork roast, choose secreto. It carries more fat than the other two, and on a very hot barbecue that fat renders and crisps. In strips, it is good for passing round before the main course.

How to cook each one

Presa

1. Thaw it overnight in the fridge (ours arrives frozen), take it out 30 minutes ahead, pat it dry and salt it just before cooking; our salting guide explains why Ibérico pork is the exception. It needs no oil.
2. On charcoal, set up a hot side and a cooler side, as in how to light a charcoal barbecue. Indoors, use a heavy frying pan and an oven at 180 °C (350 °F).
3. Sear every side until well coloured, then move it to the cooler side or into the oven until the core reads 63–65 °C (145–149 °F). Go by the thermometer, not the clock; the doneness guide has the full scale.
4. Rest it for about half its cooking time (see resting meat), then slice it thickly across the grain.

Pluma

Leave it whole. On a very hot pan, plancha or barbecue, give it two to four minutes a side, thick end over the fire and tip towards the edge. Check the thick end with a thermometer, rest it briefly and slice on the diagonal.

Secreto

Do not trim it; the fat is the point. Use a dry pan, plancha or barbecue on very high heat, two to four minutes a side, until the edges are brown and crisp. On charcoal the dripping fat will flare up, so keep a cooler corner free. Slice into strips and finish with sal en escamas, flaky salt.

What to ask for at a Spanish counter

• The names. Presa and pluma are feminine, so you ask for presa ibérica and pluma ibérica. Secreto is masculine: secreto ibérico.
• Whole. Ask for presa and pluma entera, whole. Sliced thin before cooking, they overcook in seconds.
• De bellota. It means the pig was finished on acorns in the dehesa, the open oak pastureland. Without those words, the label makes no claim about acorns.
• Related cuts. Plumillas, the diminutive of pluma, are smaller, tender pieces from the same area, good on the plancha or on skewers. Secreto de barriguera is sold as a cut of its own; a recipe that just says secreto means the classic one.

The other cuts, abanico and cheeks among them, are on our Ibérico pork page.