A ham from Kentucky - Ein Schinken aus Kentucky

We had fresh ham a couple of times, and I liked it. But than I heard people talking about Country Ham, and how much better it is :) I did a little research, and, after the most praises were sung for Col. Bill Newsom's Country Hams from Kentucky, I called them up and ordered one to be shipped to me in time for Easter . At least, that was what I tried. But than they told me, they sell out of hams very quickly and you have to preorder them. At the time, I called, 6 month in advance. So, since that was the next best thing I could do, I preoredered one, about for beginning of December. Those hams are dry cured, slow smoked and aged for about 10 month. They are said to have an intense pork flavor, due to shrinking and enzymatic activity during aging, and are not too salty.

They could not promise an exact delivery dates, because hams age differently and they mail them out when they are perfect. Well, "our" ham, with 16.27 pounds, came by mail 3 weeks ago, ( without refrigeration, by the way, because they don't need any ) and I kept it in a cool place since than. Today I brought it to my butcher Erik at Lunardi's Burlingame, who cut it in half and cut off two 1/2 inch slices as well. Of course, we tried it, as soon as it was cut, and we both were blown away, so good it was. Tastes almost like prosciutto, at about 1/4 of the price. One half we will have for Christmas dinner, boiled and maybe glazed, the two slices will end up as pan fried ham steaks and the second half will be cut in thin slices and eaten raw.

Wir lieben Schinken. Zumindest frischen Schinken, im ganzen gebacken und in dickere Scheiben geschnitten. Dann, irgendwann letztes Jahr, haben mir Leute erzählt, wie toll Country Ham schmecken würde, ein Schinken, der nicht frisch ist, sondern für 10 Monate luftgetrocknet und leicht geräuchert ist. Ich habe mich ein bisschen kundig gemacht und dann einen bestellt bei Col. Bill Newsom aus Kentucky. Zumindest wollte ich das machen, für Ostern, aber seine Schinken sind so beliebt, das sie schnell ausverkauft sind und man vorbestellen muss. Das habe ich dann auch gemacht, und nach etwa 10 Monaten kam der Schinken dann tatsächlich mit der Post bei uns an. Es war ein kompletter Schinken, etwa 8 kg, also viel zu viel um es auf einmal aufzuessen. So bin ich dann zu unserem freundlichen Metzger Erik gegangen, der ihn mir in halb gesägt hat und außerdem noch zwei etwa 1 cm dicke Schinken'steaks' abgesägt hat. Danke, Erik ! Auf jeden Fall wird die erste Hälfte die Hauptattraktion unseres Weihnachtsessens sein ...

16.27 lbs of pure indulgence.

Edit :

A couple weeks later, 3 days before Christmas Day Dinner, I soaked the ham for 3 days in water, changing it once a day during that time. That's how it looked after the nice, long soak :

 Than it was simmered for about 4 hours on the day of the dinner.