Pass the Damn Ham

It's that time of year when we are inundated in ham. Gift ham at work, Honey Ham at the mall, bins of cured pork at the grocery store. It's all unnatural. That is to say most of what we call ham in America is chemically cured meat, not even necessarily the actual ham portion of the pig (the thigh of the animal, the piece from the knee joint to the hipbone). Remember those pressed and jellied monstrosities in the dangerous to open tins or the rectangles of injected flesh called cure 81. A true American ham was the thigh of a freshly butchered pig that the farmer salted and hung in a cool place till the flesh slowly cured (dehydrated) and preserved the meat. Sometimes the ham was hung in the smokehouse where it was flavored with gentle cold smoke then allowed to cure. This Ham business is all about putting up and preserving a fresh cut of meat so as the valuable flesh would not spoil.

Authentic American hams are much like the highly desirable Prosciutto or Spanish Salerno ham; dead meat cured with salt and hung in a cool place to slowly decompose until deemed eatable. These hams still taste of pig, they are sliced very thin and allowed to melt in the mouth. The hinting flavor of decay is much applauded.

The chemical American ham was invented out of necessity and demands for food safety. Our present day hams satisfy FDA requirements and little else. Some of these water added, nitrated, flavored pieces of flesh are actually eatable in small portions; as in salty bean soup, scrambled eggs or thinly sliced on a sandwich. The two tastes the human mouth most easily recognizes are sweet and salty. This is not a subtle recognition so chemical ham attains popularity by overpowering identification. I, for one, fear the specter of a spiral sliced honey baked ham.

Have you ever cooked a fresh ham? A whole thigh off a freshly butchered pig? This is the virgin heaven of ham.

In a roasting pan put a whole fresh ham on a raised rack. You can keep it simple or stud the flesh with garlic or inject herb butter. Roast in an indoor or outdoor oven until the skin of the ham crackles (about 2 ½ hours). Cut the cracklings into strips and serve with the juicy pork. Serve with a side of salad and fresh bread.

You are what you eat.