Roasted ham was always prepared on special occasions in our house. Ham (in the U.S.) or gammon in the U.K. and other foreign countries is simply cured pork — usually from the leg portion of the pig or boar. It’s also the uncured rump cut of pork that’s from the haunch of the pork leg.
Hams come with different labels: fresh, cured, and smoked-cured. The flesh of fresh ham ranges from beige to light pink and always needs to be cooked. Meanwhile, some cured hams are sold ready-to-eat or have cooking instructions on the label. There are different curing processes for every different kind of ham. Curing involves the salting and addition of preservatives to the pork meat. Ham may be cured by soaking in a brine solution or by dry-rubbing. Some hams are smoked and aged up to a year in smokehouses. Cured hams have a pink to rose color.
George Hormel produced and sold the first canned ham in the U.S. in 1926. Country ham was first advertised in U.S. newspapers in 1944, and it now refers to the style of curing-style that was originally done in Virginia and several other Southern states. Country ham is commonly used in a familiar snack in the South: biscuits and ham. Spiral-cut cooked hams were invented in 1957 and are best served cold since the baking process can dry out the pre-sliced ham. Eventually, ham steaks appeared — these are just packed slices of ham. Look for ham sold in grocery stores in several different forms: canned, frozen, chilled, and dry packed.
In Europe, there is a special ham that comes from the black-footed pig . It’s called Jamón ibérico, pata negra, or Iberico ham. It’s very rarely found outside Spain and regions of Portugal. Lovers of this most expensive ham eat it thinly sliced and there are different grades of this gourmet ham.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment