Ham, technically speaking, can refer to the thigh and buttock of any animal that is slaughtered for meat. The term is usually restricted to a cut of pork, the haunch of a pig or boar. 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 sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite. Sugar is common in many US ham dry cures. This is followed by a period of drying and aging. 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 US 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 EnglishWiltshire ham.
Dry cured varieties include prosciutto (the Italian style of dry-cured ham) and Parma ham or prosciutto di Parma (prosciutto from the city of Parma). Spain has jamon and serrano. USAcountry ham includes the world-famous Virginia ham, which is smoked. England has the York ham. Germany's Westphalian ham is usually smoked over juniper.
Ham is also processed into other meat products such as SPAM luncheon meat.
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. If a ham has been cut into pieces and molded, it must be labeled "sectioned and formed" or "chunked and formed".
In addition to the main categories, some processing choices can affect legal labeling. A smoked ham must have been smoked by hanging over burning hickory wood chips in a smokehouse. Injecting "smoke flavor" is not legal grounds for claiming the ham was "smoked". Hams can only be labeled "honey-cured" if honey was at least 50% of the sweetener used and has a discernable effect on flavor. So-called "lean" and "extra lean" hams must adhere to maximum levels of fat and cholesterol per 100 grams of product.
First notices of ham production in Italy comes from Roman period (300-400 b.C.). Nowadays legislation recognizes to several hams the marks of typical products (European Union),that require registered production rules.
There are several kind of hams, each one with a peculiar production process.
Parma ham, the so called Prosciutto di Parma, has almost 200 producers concentrated in the eastern part of Parma Province. The treatment is regulated by a quality consortium with distinctive mark. Only big thigh of hams are used (fresh haunches of 12-13 kilograms). It's also known like sweet ham, cause a low quantity of salt is added to pig haunch. After salt the meat is treated with a special pig fat on the blunt part of the haunch: this grants a slow drying, so that the producer can season for a long time (minimum 12 months) the ham adding a low quantity of salt. Except from salt and fat there are no other additives (no nitrates or other).
The San daniele ham (Prosciutto di San Daniele) is the most similar to Parma ham, expecially for the low quantity of salt added to meat.
Other raw hams are the so called "nostrani" or "nazionali" or "toscani", they are more tasteful and thery're produced using an higher quantity of salt.
There's also a big production of cooked hams.
(This is reproduced, word for word, from the original source with added noted in parentheses. Vinegar is not typically used in ham curing in the present day.)
For each ham of twelve pounds weight: Two pounds of common salt; 2 ounces of saltpetre; 1/4 pound of bay salt (coarse salt, possibly sea salt); 1/4 pound of coarse sugar. This should be reduced to the finest powder. Rub the hams well with it; female hands are not often heavy enough to do this thoroughly. Then place them in a deep pan, and add a wineglassful (1/4 cup or 2 US fl. oz) of good vinegar. Turn the hams every day; for the first three or four days rub them well with the brine; after that time it will suffice to ladle it over the meat with a wooden or iron spoon. They should remain three weeks in the pickle. When taken from it wipe them well, put them in bags of brown paper (Warning: the "brown paper" of a modern grocery sack should not be used in this fashion. The recipe probably refers to very plain, unbleached paper. "Brown paper bags" are made from a variety of unknown pulp sources and may have a variety of inappropriate chemicals.) and then (cold) smoke them with wood smoke for three weeks.
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