Recipes

Meat has been cured since ancient times.  Dry cured hams have been a favorite in France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal for centuries.  Americans, particularly those in the South and the names Smithfield and Surry are legendary in this area, carried on this tradition with smoked hams, fattening them with tasty peanuts, beech nuts, hickory nuts, acorns and fruits.     All of these hams are salt cured and aged.  Some are smoked over fragrant hardwoods. While we love everything French and American, and whilst the Italian prosciutto is the best known the world over, we prefer Spanish ham which usually has a more uniform texture, more intense flavor and is usually less moist than other cured hams, because of the long curing stage.  In fact, every European country seems to have its own specialty on cured hams.  But pig rearing is Spain dates back to antiquity and once the pig was harvested, it was dry-cured to last the family for an entire year.  Jamón serrano is a type of jamón (dry-cured Spanish ham), which is generally served raw in thin slices, or occasionally diced for use in cooking.  Today, Spain is the world's leading producer of dry-cured pork.  Serrano means from the tierra or the mountain range, where the European white (it's really pink) pig is curred.  Jamón Ibérico comes from the black Ibérico pig, which has smaller litters and is more difficult to put weight on quickly (compared to the white pigs), hence its higher price and gamier flavor, which we prefer.  These Spanish hams are often thinly sliced and served on a slice of pan tomate. The German Black Forest ham is commonly available world-wide and is smoked over pine and fir and coated with beef blood to give it a black exterior. Very lean and