Dry-cured ham

Slices of Prosciutto di Parma, a dry-cured ham

Dry-cured ham originated as a meat preservation process. Through dry-curing, the ham can be stored for several months. The processing technology is based on traditional knowledge passed from one generation to the other. The raw materials and the ripening conditions have a significant influence on the final texture and flavour.^[1]

Air dried

Bayonne hams aging in an atmospherically-controlled storage room in Mazerolles, Béarn

Air-dried hams are made throughout southern Europe, and most of these traditional products now have some kind of protected designation of origin.

• Prosciutto - various types of Italian ham
• Presunto in Portugal - Its name also derives directly from the Latin perexsuctum, like prosciutto.
• Bayonne ham, from the French Basque country
• Jambon de Pays as called in the rest of southwestern France, in places like Tarn, Aude, Aveyron and Haute-Garonne and all over most of Occitania. It is usually darker and saltier than Bayonne ham and cut in thicker slices when served. The Occitan word is Cambajou.
• Elenski but, made in the town of Elena in Bulgaria
• Jamón, Spain
• Njeguška pršuta, from Montenegro
• Užička pršuta, from Serbia
• in Croatia:
  • Dalmatian dry-cured ham (dalmatinski pršut), from Dalmatia in Croatia, especially from the area of Zagora - may be more or less salty, with darker and drier meat. The ham from the town of Drniš is one of the best known.^[2]
  • Istrian dry-cured ham (istarski pršut), from the Croatian peninsula of Istria; its saltiness and dryness is between Karst dry-cured ham and Dalmatian dry-cured ham.
• Karst dry-cured ham (kraški pršut), from Karst, Slovenia^[3] is generally less salty, less dry and with a gentler taste.
• Littoral dry-cured ham (primorski pršut), from the Littoral region, Slovenia
• Jambon, (Jambon afumat, if smoked), in Romania; mostly referred to as Şuncă in Transylvania.
• Adbum ta Derick, (Derbum), from Adelaide
• Jinhua ham, from China

Smoked

• Black Forest ham from Germany
• Country ham in the southern United States
• York Ham From England

See also

Food portal

• Cuisine
• Food

References

1. ^ Toldrá, Fidel (2005). Dry-Cured Meat Products. Iowa State University Press. p. 27. ISBN 0917678540. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0T9Ns86SsH4C&pg=PP1&dq=Dry-Cured+Meat+Products. Retrieved 2009-07-16. 
2. ^ (Croatian)Meso, prvi hrvatski časopis o mesu br.6/2003. Drniški pršut (Croatian specialized magazine about meat)
3. ^ Youth Farm, an EU-sponsored website with information on quality certification and designation of origin (Slovene)