Presunto substitutes

Arguably the closest match of all, because Spanish and Portuguese hams are cured in the same tradition on the same peninsula. It is dry, firm, quite salty and a little mineral, with the same clean cured-pork flavor. Next to presunto it is usually a shade drier and saltier, so in a stew or a sandwich you may want a touch less salt elsewhere.

Best for

serving raw with bread and wine, bifana and Portuguese sandwiches, francesinha, chopped into stews and soups, wrapping around fish or vegetables

If your shop only has thick slices, ask for it sliced as thin as the machine will go; thick cured ham eats tough and chewy.

The most available dry-cured ham in most countries and a very good swap. It is a little sweeter, softer and more delicate than presunto, with less of the nutty, savory edge that longer-cured Portuguese ham has, so a plate of it tastes gentler and a sandwich reads slightly more Italian. In a cooked dish nobody will notice.

Best for

raw plates and boards, sandwiches, wrapping around melon, fish or asparagus, chopped into soups and stews

Prosciutto cotto is cooked ham and a completely different product, so make sure the label says crudo. Add it to hot dishes at the last moment.

Dry-cured like presunto but lightly cold-smoked, which is the whole difference. That smoke actually suits Portuguese cooking, which already leans on smoked sausage and paprika, so it works well in a stew or a hash. On a plain plate of ham with bread, the smoke is obvious and pulls the flavor away from Portugal.

Best for

cooked dishes, hashes and stews, with eggs and potatoes, sandwiches, wrapping meat or fish for roasting

Use a slightly lighter hand than the recipe says, since smoke reads stronger than salt-cure. Good choice if presunto is going into a bean dish alongside chourico.

Richer, nuttier and more marbled than everyday presunto, with fat that melts at close to room temperature. Treat it as an upgrade rather than a compromise: it tastes deeper and more buttery, so it is glorious raw and largely wasted once cooked into a stew.

Best for

raw plates and boards, pintxos and tapas, draping over warm toast or bread, special-occasion sandwiches

Expensive, so buy it for the dishes where the ham is served as-is. Let it sit out for ten minutes before serving so the fat softens.

Cured pork shoulder or neck rather than leg, so it is fattier, more marbled and spiced with pepper, fennel or paprika depending on the maker. A slice tastes distinctly peppery and richer than presunto, which works well chopped into a stew or a bean pot but makes a raw plate taste of seasoning rather than of ham.

Best for

chopped into stews, beans and soups, sandwiches with strong flavors, pizza and flatbreads, charcuterie mixed with other meats

Pick the mildest version you can find. Because it is fattier, it renders more in a hot pan than presunto would.

In a stew, a bean pot or a caldo verde base, cured pork fat and salt is a large part of what presunto contributes, and pancetta or bacon supply both. Pancetta tastes plainly porky and salty, which is close; bacon adds smoke and, in most American brands, a hint of sugar, which pushes the dish sweeter and smokier than intended.

Best for

bean stews and soups, rice dishes, sauteed greens, any dish where the ham is cooked in

Brown it first to render the fat, then cut back the salt in the recipe because both are saltier than they taste raw. Never use either where the ham is served raw on a plate.