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Ham

the hind leg of a pig above the hock joint, cut from the carcass and cured by salting and drying, and sometimes smoking, so that it will keep for months at room temperature. Gammon is the same joint as ham, but is left attached to the side during bacon curing, and cut from it afterwards. It is milder in flavour. ‘Ham’, in its more general meaning of the hind leg, is applied to cured meat made from other animals, including wild boar, mutton, goat, venison, and even badger.

The first records of hams come from the classical world. The Romans knew hams made by the Gauls in the last few centuries bc, cured by brining and smoking. Cato described how, in the 2nd century bc, the inhabitants of N. Italy made hams by layering legs of pork with dry salt, followed by drying and smoking.

In medieval times, hams were made all over Europe. Every cottager kept a pig, which was killed in autumn and preserved to provide food through winter.

Europeans took pigs and the art of curing meat to the Americas, where several types of ham developed. Another area of expertise in the curing of pork meat is China, especially the region of Yunnan.

Combinations of factors such as pig breed, feeding, curing recipe, and storage method gave rise to many varieties of ham. The process of curing all hams begins with salting. This may be done with dry salt or brine, or a combination of the two. Wet cures penetrate the meat more quickly. Saltpetre or nitrite (see salt) is added in small quantities to improve penetration and give a pink colour. After curing, which may take from a few days to several months, the ham is removed from the salt and dried. This operation may consist of hanging the ham in cool air, or may be aided by smoking. Some woods are particularly favoured; oak and hickory have a high tannin content which helps to preserve the meat, and aromatic woods can be used for a special flavour. Peat was used in Ireland. Certain European hams are finished over pinewood smoke, which forms a black, flyproof, resinous layer and flavours the ham slightly. During smoking, the hams lose about 25% of their weight.

Some of the most important types of hams are listed below, first those intended for eating raw, and then those which have been or will be cooked:

Hams for eating raw

• Jambon d'Ardennes, the best-known Belgian ham, smoked dark brown.
• Jambon de Bayonne, French smoked ham with a smoky flavour and brown exterior, made around Orthez, to the east of Bayonne.
• Jamón iberico, Spanish ham from the native Iberian pig which is reared in woodlands of S. and W. Spain, see the entry serrano ham.
• Jamón serrano (‘mountain ham’), see the entry serrano ham.
• Knochenschinken (‘ham on the bone’), a hard, heavily smoked German ham, almost black.
• Landrauch, ‘country smoked’, heavily smoked and dry German ham.
• Prosciutto crudo is the generic description of raw hams in Italy and the most famous are Parma ham from Emilia Romagna, and prosciutto di San Daniele, made near Friuli in Udine province. Although San Daniele has been locally renowned, it is only since the 1960s that it has been seriously commercialized. Originally, it was made from the black pigs of Friuli, but now many other breeds qualify, provided they are of the correct conformation. Other hams, especially from Tuscany (thought salty by Anna del Conte, 2001), that deserve mention are those from Norcia in Umbria, Carpegna in Marche, and Sauris in Friuli.
• Westfälische Schinken (Westphalian ham), a notable German ham, first dry salted then brined, scrubbed with clean water to reduce its saltiness, and gently smoked with beech and juniper wood with occasional additions of juniper berries.

Hams which are cooked

• Bradenham ham, a delicate English ham, lengthily cured in molasses with juniper berries and spices to give a sweet flavour and a perfectly black outside. This ham was cured, predominantly in N. Wiltshire, according to an 18th-century recipe, named perhaps after the first Lord Bradenham.
• Braunschweiger Schinken (Brunswick ham), a mild German ham.
• Jambon, the French word for ham, which gives jambon de campagne (‘of the country’), a general French name for minor local hams of various types.
• Jambon de Paris (also jambon glacé or jambon blanc), a lightly salted, unsmoked French ham, which is presented in various forms (of which the officially approved one is parallelepipedic, neither rolled nor on the bone). It has a very mild flavour, and is usually bought sliced and eaten cold. (Note: a jambonneau is a pig's forehock, cured by a method similar to ham.)
• Jambon de Vendée, called ‘bacon’ in medieval times, a boneless ham dry salted with sea salt, slightly dried, flavoured with eau de vie (of pear or plum) and aromatics such as rosemary, sold raw and ready to be cooked. Among the best of its class.
• Jinhua ham, made in the Zhejiang province of China from the Jinhua breed of pig. It has a rosy colour.
• Country-style or country-cured hams are those American hams from Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, and Tennessee which are generally dry cured, smoked, and aged. They may well be smoked over hickory or apple wood, or even, sometimes, corn husks. The best American critics find it difficult to identify regional variations (Behr, 1992), but the most celebrated are from Virginia, more specifically, Smithfield, a small town on the James River estuary. Formerly, Smithfield hogs were fattened on peanuts. The long-hock hams are dry salted for up to 50 days, cold smoked, rubbed with pepper to protect any exposed flesh, and aged for up to a year. They may be eaten raw, but the majority are cooked before eating.
• Pragerschinken, meaning Prague ham, which comes from the Czech Republic. It is given a long brine cure, smoked with beech wood, and well aged. It is usually cooked and served hot.
• York ham, the name of a curing method which gives a superior product suitable for cooking and eating cold. It is dry salted and smoked (lightly or heavily), and then matured for several months. The flavour is mild and the colour light. ‘York hams’ are made in countries other than England, not always as well as the original.
• Yunnan ham, the finest of Chinese hams, is made by a supposedly secret process, but is similar to a Virginia ham in its relative leanness.

Hams which are meant to be eaten raw (see above) are cut in very fine slices, and served, depending on the region, with curls of unsalted butter, fresh figs, or melon.

The usual method of cooking a whole ham is gentle simmering in a large container. An old practice is to add hay to the cooking water, which is supposed to help reduce saltiness and certainly imparts a delicate flavour. Alternatively, a ham can be partially simmered, then baked; or, exceptionally, baked from the start.

The English method for dealing with hot boiled ham is to glaze it with brown sugar and mustard or fruit juice, and decorate by scoring the fat in a lozenge pattern and studding it with whole cloves. Sweet glazes are also popular in N. America, and fruit such as pineapple or peaches are used as a garnish. Creamy sauces flavoured with wine or mustard are favoured in continental Europe.

English boiled ham to be eaten cold has toasted breadcrumbs pressed over the fat to make a coating.

Ham goes well with eggs and pulses, as in the English combinations of fried ham and eggs, and pea and ham soup. Variations on these themes are to be found in most European countries. A little ham goes a long way; thus some stock, bones, or a little meat are sufficient to flavour hefty amounts of dried peas or lentils. Small pieces of ham are also added to some potato dishes. In Italy, it is used in sauces and garnishes for pasta, and numerous S. European recipes begin with chopped onions and ham lightly fried together.

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