Biblical character, one of Noah's three sons, the brother of Shem and Japheth, and father of Canaan. He is described as helping Noah to build the ark, but after the Flood his son Canaan is cursed by God for Ham's apparent sin of having seen the nakedness of his father Noah (Gen 9.22). This curse may be an attempt to explain the later subjugation of the Canaanites to Israel as resulting from Canaanite sexual perversion.
Although it can be cooked and served fresh, most ham is cured in some fashion.Ham can either be dry-cured or wet-cured. A dry-cured ham has been rubbed in a mixture containing salt and a variety of other ingredients (most usually some proportion of sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite), Sugar is common in many dry cures in the United States. A wet-cured ham has been cured with a brine, either by immersion or injection. The division between wet and dry cure is not always hard-and-fast as some ham curing methods begin wet but are followed by dry aging.
The majority of common wet-cured ham available in U.S. supermarkets is of the "city ham" variety, in which brine is injected into the meat for a very rapid curing suitable for mass market. Traditional wet curing requires immersing the ham in a brine for an extended period, often followed by light smoking. Traditional wet cured ham includes the English Wiltshire ham and the French Jambon de Paris.
Dry-cured varieties include the Italian prosciutto crudo (prosciutto di Parma, prosciutto di San Daniele, prosciutto di Carpegna, prosciutto di Modena, prosciutto Toscano, prosciutto Veneto Berico-Euganeo, Valle d’Aosta Jambon de Bosses, prosciutto di Norcia) and the Spanish Jamon serrano (notably the Cured Ham of Trevélez) and jamón ibérico (notably the Cured iberic Ham of Guijuelo). Germany's Westphalian ham is usually smoked over juniper, in Belgium, there is the smoked Ardennes ham, and from China there is the unsmoked Jinhua ham.
Ham is also processed into other meat products such as Spam luncheon meat.
National regulation of ham production
Each country that produces ham has its own regulations.
France
Bayonne Ham or Jambon de Bayonne is an air dried salted ham that takes its name from the ancient port city of Bayonne in the far South West of France (La Pays Basque or the Basque country). The origins of the process used are lost in the mist of time, there are medieval church carvings depicting hams as far back as the 11th century and evidence of its use in Roman times. The area concerned is the basin of the river Adour and this geographical limitation is now enshrined in the regulations for the production of Bayonne Ham. The ham produced within these criteria is given the European Union PGI status Protected Designation of Origin and as such is called Bayonne Ham. Enforcement of these regulations and the granting of the right to use the name Bayonne ham is the responsiblity of Le Consortium de Jambon du Bayonne based in Pau the capital of department 64 south west France. The hams were then rubbed in salt produced in the salt pans of the Adour estuary or from those near Bearn. The temperature conditions at this time of year, 6 to 8 °C, are ideal for the initial preserving process and the hams were left hanging in the drying room until the end of January early February.
Once the ham has completed its curing process it is marked with the traditional "Croix Basque or Lauburu also known as the Basque Cross" topped with the name Bayonne. The ham is a minimum of 7 months old with most being of 9 or 10 months before it is offered for sale and will keep for up to another year if kept in a cool (8 °C) dry atmosphere.
Italy
Earliest evidence of ham production in Italy occured in 1856. Modern Italian and European Union legislation grants a protected designation of origin to several hams, which specify where and how these types of ham can be produced. Parma ham, the so called Prosciutto di Parma, has almost 200 producers concentrated in the eastern part of Parma Province. San Daniele ham (Prosciutto di San Daniele) is the most similar to Parma ham, especially the low quantity of salt added to the meat, and is the most prized ham. Other raw hams include the so called "nostrani" or "nazionali" or "toscani", they are more strongly flavored and are produced using a higher quantity of salt.
Spain
One of the more exacting ham regulatory practices can be found in Spain.
The regional appellations of Spanish ham (Jamón serrano) include the following:
Pedroches with Protected denomination of Origin, from Andalusia. Cured ham of Trevélez, cured at least 1,200 meters above sea level. Cured hams from Trevélez are qualified to be among the “sweetest” cured hams due to the low degree of salting necessary for the drying and maturing processes to succeed properly.USA
In the United States, ham is regulated primarily on the basis of its cure and water content. US law (specifically the USDA) recognizes the following categories:
Fresh ham is an uncured hind leg of pork. Country Ham is uncooked, cured, dried, smoked-or-unsmoked, made from a single piece of meat from the hind leg of a hog or from a single piece of meat from a pork shoulder. Smithfield ham, a country ham, must be made in or around Smithfield, Virginia, to be sold as such.
For most other purposes, under US law, a "ham" is a cured hind leg of pork that is at least 20.5% protein (not counting fat portions) and contains no added water. However "ham" can be legally applied to such things as "turkey ham" if the meat is taken from the thigh of the animal. If the ham has less than 20.5% but is at least 18.5% protein, it can be called "ham with natural juices". A ham that is at least 17.0% protein and up to 10% added solution can be called "ham—water added". Finally, "ham and water product" refers to a cured hind leg of pork product that contains any amount of added water, although the label must indicate the percent added ingredients. A "smoked" ham must have been smoked by hanging over burning wood chips in a smokehouse, and a "hickory-smoked" ham must have been smoked over hickory. Injecting "smoke flavor" is not legal grounds for claiming the ham was "smoked".
One of the most popular and expensive hams in the United States is Smithfield or Virginia ham. Through a special curing process Smithfield ham ages. In that time a fungal coat forms over the outside of the ham while the rest of the meat continues to age. This process produces a distinctive flavor, but the fungal layer must be scrubbed off of the ham before being cooked or served.
Religious prohibitions
Ham is not permitted for consumption by either the Jain, Jewish or Muslim faiths.
User Comments Add a comment…