Spanish ham slicer slashes Guinness record
A young Spanish cortador, or ham slicer, broke all records on Monday when he spent more than 25 hours at the knife.
Slicing ham (jamón) is a serious business in Spain.
There is a name for the professionals who ply the trade — they are called cortadores — and there are regular competitions.
There is even a national association of ham slicers which boasts Swiss knife makers Victorinox among its sponsors.
Now, though, a young man from Spain's Valencia region has taken the art to a whole new level — at least in terms of endurance.
Paris-based Noé Bonillo on Monday beat the Guinness record for time spent slicing hams, clocking up more than 25 hours at the knife, according to Spain's Diaro de Mallorca newspaper.
By doing so he beat the previous record of 24 hours and 45 minutes.
A "happy" Bonillo said after the event that tiredness had been kept at bay by the encouragement of people around him.
And this was no mean feat: the cortador had been training specifically for the event since summer in bursts of up to 30 hours.
Under the watchful gaze of both a personal trainer and the manager of the Paris restaurant where he works, the ambidextrous Bonillo practiced the repetitive slicing movements over and over again.
Now the work has paid off.
This was "a record for the whole team" said the jamón slicer after the ordeal was over.
Without them "it would haven't been possible", he added.
As for all the ham Bonillo sliced from the bone, it will now be donated to the Benedictine nuns of Montmartre Sacre Coeur.
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Slicing ham (jamón) is a serious business in Spain.
There is a name for the professionals who ply the trade — they are called cortadores — and there are regular competitions.
There is even a national association of ham slicers which boasts Swiss knife makers Victorinox among its sponsors.
Now, though, a young man from Spain's Valencia region has taken the art to a whole new level — at least in terms of endurance.
Paris-based Noé Bonillo on Monday beat the Guinness record for time spent slicing hams, clocking up more than 25 hours at the knife, according to Spain's Diaro de Mallorca newspaper.
By doing so he beat the previous record of 24 hours and 45 minutes.
A "happy" Bonillo said after the event that tiredness had been kept at bay by the encouragement of people around him.
And this was no mean feat: the cortador had been training specifically for the event since summer in bursts of up to 30 hours.
Under the watchful gaze of both a personal trainer and the manager of the Paris restaurant where he works, the ambidextrous Bonillo practiced the repetitive slicing movements over and over again.
Now the work has paid off.
This was "a record for the whole team" said the jamón slicer after the ordeal was over.
Without them "it would haven't been possible", he added.
As for all the ham Bonillo sliced from the bone, it will now be donated to the Benedictine nuns of Montmartre Sacre Coeur.
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