Alaska has its salmon. Georgia is the Peach State. Idaho gives us potatoes. Maryland claims blue crabs. Wisconsin is the cheesiest. But Virginians are in hog heaven when it comes to ham, at least according to scores of foodie experts.
Like the tendrils of wood smoke, the essence of peanuts, acorns and even fruit like peaches and apples infuse this delicacy with local flavor. Virginia hams are saturated with the character of rural landscapes and neighboring waterways and steeped in traditions that reach back to the very foundations of this unique home place.
Hams have been produced in America since the settling of Jamestown more than 400 years ago. Pigs were not native to the Jamestown area but were brought to the colonies from England and Bermuda to raise for food and the sport of wild boar hunting. The climate of Virginia was so perfect for raising pigs that they rooted, ran and rutted, feeding on acorns and hickory nuts and reproducing in such numbers that they became a nuisance. So the settlers rounded them up and transported them to an island in the James River later known as “Hog Island” in Surry County, where they became an easily caught source of protein, available all year long.
Since Native Americans had been curing venison long before the settlers arrived in Jamestown, they taught the newcomers to preserve meat with salt, smoke and time. Their methods of curing venison were adopted by the colonists and used to preserve the meat of the plentiful razorback hog. Together, the natives and settlers would slaughter the animals in the fall, wash them and rub them down with salt, smoke them, then let them age through the winter and into the spring, allowing the salt and the changes in temperature to turn raw muscle into bacon and ham.
The pig population flourished around Smithfield, Surry and Isle of Wight County. When peanuts became the region’s go-to crop after the Civil War, the pigs were allowed to wander into the peanut fields and fatten themselves on the leftovers of the year’s harvest. These goober-gorged pigs would launch the region and its hams to culinary stardom. The peanut diet — along with a lengthy curing process — produced a uniquely flavored, rich and fatty ham that wowed taste buds across the globe. “The peanut-fed ham is like ham-flavored silk,” says Keith Roberts, wholesale sales manager for Edwards Virginia Smokehouse.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, Queen Victoria was ordering six Smithfield hams a week for her palace kitchen. Prices for Virginia hams soared. When counterfeiters began hawking inferior meat under the same name, the state legislature created strict rules for what qualified as a Smithfield ham: the pigs had to be fed on a partial diet of peanuts, and the ham had to be cured within the boundaries of Smithfield proper. In other words, Smithfield had become the “Champagne” of hams.
Even now, its status as a meaty icon is preserved in the Isle of Wight Museum in Smithfield with a dedicated exhibit and a special “ham cam.” As the story goes, in 1902, P.D. Gwaltney, Jr., a pork and peanut man with a knack for marketing, discovered a single cured shank accidentally forgotten in his warehouse. When he discovered the abandoned ham, Gwaltney smelled a smoking business opportunity. He decided to keep the ham to see how long it could last. He trotted out his “pet ham,” complete with its own personalized brass collar, at county fairs, food shows and even on military tours. An insurance company at the time valued it at $5,000 — or about $77,000 in today’s money. As it is now, the nearly 120-year-old hunk of meat — officially the world’s oldest ham — is blackened maroon in color, wrinkled and marbled with splotches of yellow and white. It shares a special glass case in the Isle of Wight Museum with two of its brother hams. In 1929, 1932 and 2003 it was featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! (which claimed the ham “remains tender and sweet and fit to eat”). It even has a Twitter account.
THE ART OF FLAVOR
Preserving a ham is largely a matter of salt, smoke and time; given only those elements, ham could be easy. However, making a uniquely tasty ham takes a little more research, thought, determination and experimentation. To make velvety, fat-streaked country hams, whole legs are dry-cured, gently smoked and left to age in the open air. The resulting meat is nutty, sweet, smoky and deeply complex.
The flavor profile of the finest hams is dependent on a multitude of variables: breed of hog, how it was raised, type of feed, type of smoke, salt and spices, the aging process, the vagaries of temperature and weather, and every other fickle feature nature delivers. It is a combination of measurement and skill, requiring the right balance of air flow, temperature and humidity, as well as the very human qualities of taste, touch and sight. This process takes years to learn and perfect. And none of that comes without a price. Producers must balance the variables at every step in the process, and it becomes more financially difficult at every turn.
In most cases, a Virginia ham is another name for a country ham, which is often sold cured but not cooked, although many grocery stores sell cooked ham as well. Preserving meat by curing with salt, smoke and time allows it to be stored unrefrigerated. This ancient method of curing draws out moisture and slows the oxidation process. These country hams are cut from a variety of hog breeds and fed a diet of peanuts, as well as acorns, hickory nuts, corn and whatever else a pig can forage.
Tasty Virginia ham is simply a country ham cured in the Commonwealth. On the other hand, a Virginia-style ham refers to how the ham was cured and/or cooked, rather than where. A ham marked “Virginia Style” is still a country ham cured in much the same way but likely not cured in Virginia. They are marked this way to be more recognizable to folks who are choosy about their country hams.
A few “boutique” ham producers have gone to great lengths to elevate the Virginia ham to an art form. In a nod to the art of county ham, bon appétit magazine rated Edwards country ham as the number one domestically produced ham in the United States. As a producer, Edwards searched out “heritage” hog breeds, which, like “heirloom” tomatoes, have origins that reach back hundreds of years. By scrupulously managing the breeds, feed and processing, the company insures that their Virginia-style hams rival the coveted Iberico, Serrano and Prosciutto di Parma hams from Spain and Italy. These international hams are prized the world over for their centuries-old processing methods and their nutty, buttery, smooth, aromatic flavor profiles.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
In Spain, jamón is quite nearly a national obsession. Skeptical? Ask a local; they’re passionate about their ham. Jamón Ibérico, by definition must be made with at least 75 percent of the genetics of Ibérico pigs, native to the Iberian Peninsula of Spain. These black-hoofed pigs spend their final days freely roaming the oak forests, foraging and feeding on acorns and native grasses. Jamón Iberico is prized as a Spanish delicacy. The flavor profile is nutty, earthy and sweet, much less salty than other hams.
Jamón Serrano (of the mountains) is a much more common variety of Spanish ham but highly regarded nonetheless. Jamón Serrano is produced from a more ordinary breed of white pig (cerdos blancos), typically younger at processing, and cured for a minimum of seven months. The meat is less marbled, with strips of pink meat alongside strips of pure white fat — about 25 percent fat.
The gourmet Italian ham, Prosciutto di Parma, renowned for its delicate and sweet flavor, can only be produced from the hind legs of specially selected heritage-breed pigs raised in 11 regions of Italy according to the highest standards, on which they are monitored, inspected and traced by a specific governing body, the Consorzio. The meat has a slightly nutty flavor from the Parmigiano Reggiano whey that is sometimes added to the pigs’ diet.
In recent years, country ham has become a darling of high-end chefs, who have turned it into a favored delicacy. Yet supplies of this iconic American food are now drying up. Finances and even natural disasters have conspired to change the business models of many familiar producers — Smithfield Foods is now owned by a Chinese firm; Edwards suffered a devastating fire from which it never fully recovered and is now owned by a company in Missouri; fire and even a tornado have wiped out some smaller companies; while other larger operations have shifted their focus to other meat products.
Regardless, optimism seems reasonable. After all, country ham enthusiasts will still need those thin slivers of deliciousness to fill their savory biscuits and wrap around asparagus or melon slices. You cannot keep a good ham down! Meanwhile, try a few of our favorite recipes for the holiday buffet, while supplies last.
COUNTRY HAM FLATBREAD WITH FIGS AND ARUGULA
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 8 ounces pizza dough, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal, for dusting
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 6 ounces crumbled goat cheese
- 3-4 mission figs, thinly sliced. Fresh or dried.
- 1 ounce country ham or prosciutto, torn into thin strips
- 1/4 cup lightly packed baby arugula
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste
Directions:
Remove dough from refrigerator about an hour before cooking. Allow to come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. For balsamic reduction, add vinegar to a sauté pan. Heat at medium until the vinegar comes to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until reduced by half. Keep the heat low. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. The reduction will thicken as it cools.
To make flatbread, sprinkle some cornmeal on a cutting board or other smooth surface. Roll out dough. Place dough on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray and drizzled with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, slice figs and shred ham.
Remove flatbread from oven and reheat the oven to high broil. Add figs and ham; broil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from oven. Top with arugula and crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle with balsamic reduction. Top with grated Parmesan cheese if desired. Slice and serve.
COUNTRY HAM FANTASTICS
Ingredients:
- 3/4 lb. cooked Edwards country ham slices
- 1/2 lb. Swiss cheese, grated
- 2 dozen Pepperidge Farm Parker House rolls
- 1 stick of butter
- 2 tablespoons mustard (to taste)
- 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions:
Line a 13-inch x 11-inch baking sheet with aluminum foil, then lightly grease the foil with olive oil. Cut a stack of cooked country ham slices into quarter-size pieces. Fill each roll with ample pieces of country ham slices and grated Swiss cheese. Then, place the filled rolls close together in the foil-lined baking sheet.
Melt a stick of butter in a microwave-safe bowl in your microwave for about 30-45 seconds until fully melted. Add 1-2 tablespoons of mustard (to taste), 1 tablespoon dried minced onion, and 1 tablespoon poppy seeds to the bowl and mix thoroughly with the butter. Spoon sauce over the top of the rolls.
Cover the rolls with foil and place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. This allows the sauce to blend with rolls; however, you can bake them immediately. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove foil cover and bake for approximately 30 minutes. Watch carefully that the rolls do not scorch. Once time is up, remove from oven. Let rest for a few minutes, then serve. Yields about 8 servings.
HAM-CHICKEN DIVAN
Ingredients:
- 3 (10oz.) packages frozen broccoli spears (fresh broccoli can be substituted)
- 2 (10-oz.) cans cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sage
- 6 cooked chicken breasts, removed from the bone and shredded
- 8 slices of Edwards cooked country ham
- 1 cup grated sharp cheddar
- 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
Directions:
Butter a long casserole dish. Partially cook the broccoli spears, drain thoroughly, then place in buttered dish. Place slivers of chicken on top of the broccoli. Next, cover chicken with the slices of country ham. Mix together cream of chicken soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and sage. Spread over the casserole. Top with grated cheddar and seasoned bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees until casserole bubbles, approximately 20 minutes.