HOW SPANISH JAMON DIFFERS FROM OTHER HAMS

Dry cured hams have been produced throughout southern Europe for centuries. Spain, Portugal, France and Italy have highly valued hams employing a variety of breeds and curing methods.

This tradition of dry cured hams migrated to the Old South of the United States in 17th Century, especially in Virginia and the Carolinas. The well known Smoked hams from peanut fed pigs were produced in the Surry and Smithfield areas. The resulting hams from the several countries vary widely in flavor, aroma, texture and quality.

Country-style ham in America is a specially cured and smoked ham that is traditionally prepared in rural sections of Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Vermont, and other states. "Country ham" refers to a style, rather than a location.

Traditionally hogs for these hams were fed beechnuts, hickory nuts, acorns, and fruit to produce more flavorful and tender meat. This is seldom the case today. They are dry-cured in salt, smoked over fragrant hardwoods, and aged at least six months. These hams are meant to be cooked before eating, and require of 24 - 48 hour soaking in water to leech out the excess salt.

On the whole, Spanish ham usually has a more uniform texture, more intense flavor, and is usually less moist than other cured hams, because of the long curing stage. This is especially true of hams from acorn-fed Iberico Bellota pigs.

The following is a random sampling of some of the better known of the the hundreds of other European and American cured hams:

Alentejo ham is an Ibérico ham from Portugal. It is similar to Spanish Ibérico ham, although somewhat smaller. The breeds are closely related, with the pigs are raised on the comparable Portuguese dehesa as they are in Spain. The open forest grasslands with acorn-bearing cork and holm oak trees are critical to their development.

Ammerland ham is a wet-cured, boneless ham from Germany that has been cold-smoked with beech wood and juniper berries.

Ardennes from Bayonne is an air-dried, salt cured, uncooked ham from Belgium, which is sliced thinly for serving and has an appearance and flavor that is similar to Italian prosciutto ham. Thicker cut slices can be pan-fried

Bigorre ham is made from free-range Gascony black pigs, an Ibérico breed, which is raised in the Pyrenees Mountains in France.

Black Forest ham is a moist, boneless German-style ham made only from the top and bottom round. It is smoked over pine and fir and coated with beef blood to give it a black exterior. Very lean and tender, it is fully cooked, weighs 4 to 6 pounds, and is often sliced thin and used for sandwiches.

Irish ham is produced in Ulster near Belfast. It is pickled and smoked over peat fires in order to achieve a unique flavor. The Irish ham is prepared as you would an American country ham – soaking the remove excessive salt and then cooked.

Jambon cru(raw ham) or Jambon du pays (local ham) is a generic designation for French hams from Alsace and Vendée. They weigh in the neighborhood of 15 lb, and some of the Alsatian hams may be smoked.

Jambon sec (dry cured ham) is a designation for hams from France that meet a minimum weight and are dry cured for at least 3 months. Hams in this category include hams from the Ardennes, Auvergne, Bayonne, Laucaune, Najac and Savoie. Jambon sec supérieur denotes hams such as Bigorre, that are from pigs raised and processed by traditional methods in France.