A Country Ham

The Coffee Shop
1

Ya’ll dazzling urbanites may not be familiar with these things. Having been born and raised in VA, they’re commonplace to me, but each one is a bit different than his brother.

Anyway, here it is. Been hanging in the cellar for a about year, having been purchased early spring 2009 (I will process and cure my own this fall). This guy is dry as a bone and very dense at about 15 pounds. He came out of his net sack and was scrubbed with a bit of soap and a heavy bristle brush…

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This is his home for the next 24 hours. He’ll soak in three or four changes of water 'till tmrw AM.

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At which point he’ll go into a very large canning pot and simmer for about 5 hours (in water, ginger ale and bourbon). After that, the skin will come off (fry that up for “chitlins”, mmmm good), the fat scored and glazed and he’ll go into the oven long enough to set the glaze.

2

WOW, very nice.

I thought the fried skin would be pork rinds, we always called the fried intestines chitlins?

3

WOW, very nice.

I thought the fried skin would be pork rinds, we always called the fried intestines chitlins?

Yep, that’s right. Lot of Yankees here though…

4

True, we used to have two kinds of chitlins, slung and unslung.

5

Wow, never knew the process was so involved.

6

I watched an episode of Alton Brown where he does a country ham. I’ve still never had, but he described the finished product as being VERY strongly flavored, “almost like an aged cheese” I think were the words he used.