If you've ever been to Spain, you've probably noticed the "Jamon" everywhere. It's a big deal there. Knowing that, it might not sound too crazy to spend a good chunk of change on some quality ham … but Florencio Sanchidrian charges quite a bit more than change.
Foodbeast reports that Sanchidrian charges $4,000 to slice ham. No, I didn't accidentally let my finger slip on the "0" key once or twice. Four thousand dollars is the price for this man's slicing services. As ridiculous as that sounds, understand that people actually pay this amount. It's not like he's just your everyday meat-slicer who thought it would be interesting to charge that much and see who'd bite. This guy is the real deal.
Celebrities like David Beckham and Robert De Niro must agree, because they pay this fee to hire him for their own ham-slicing needs. Even Barack Obama has hired Sanchidrian. If none of that is convincing, you might be impressed that he's sliced the meat to be served at the Oscars. Clearly, he's good at what he does. However, we won't learn too much from him about his technique, as it seems he feels the reason he's so great at it is because he's devoted himself to it, "body and soul."
That's not necessarily something we could learn by watching, but let's watch anyway. He performs his ham-slicing techniques quite dramatically in the video below, with Flamenco guitar music playing in the background for an added effect.
His words ring true when you watch his technique. He says that slicing felt natural for him the first time he grabbed a knife and tried it. It's now been over 30 years and at this point, he says he's "got a slice that will taste nothing like a normal cut and will in fact remind me that God exists.”
It seems it might be worth the extra cash to pay this man to slice ham for you, if you'd like to know how he can make it taste better than anyone else could. Again, I'd normally question this, except that so many people seem to agree.