Ham

The process of making ham was known to the ancient Romans, in particular, already in the first century BC, in his work Mark Terence Varron described in great detail the technology of its preparation.

In fact, ham is pork ham, which, even after salting and smoking, must preserve the structure of meat. On an industrial scale, ham is made mainly from pork, but often this meat delicacy comes on sale from turkey meat, chicken and even game. By the way, the calorie content of ham made from pork meat is 27

8. 5 kcal per 100 grams.

At home, some hostesses cook ham using a kitchen appliance called a ham house. It is a hollow metal cylinder, which is equipped with a spring device for squeezing minced meat.

It is safe to say that ham is a very important product in the kitchen. It can complement or replace meat, play a major role in hot and cold dishes, and perform an exclusively decorative function.

Types of ham

Depending on the cooking method, there are several types of ham: boiled, boiled-smoked, smoked-baked, raw smoked and raw. In addition, there is also canned ham, which is packed in cans, while gelatinous jelly is added to the meat.

So, based on where this meat product was produced, that is, its countries of origin, several types of ham are also distinguished, which are in stable increased demand and popularity among culinary workers around the world.

For example, Italian Parma ham is known far beyond the front lines of its culinary homeland. Its distinctive feature is considered a special composition of ham, which includes relatively little salt, but products such as sugar and garlic salt are added.

Black Forest ham is produced exclusively in Germany. This is a dry aged product smoked on fresh spruce cones and sawdust.

France is famous for Bayonne ham, which is first dried outdoors and then salted.

Ham composition

The composition of ham can vary based on its species. It means that if this is a pork ham, which is considered a gastronomic standard, then in addition to salt, nothing else can be contained in it. But often many manufacturers add other types of meat to it in order to somehow expand the range of their meat products. In addition, food additives are often used, for example, taste enhancers and dyes, which indicates a low quality of ham.

Juicy and tender consistency is the main indicator of the excellent quality of ham. The cut should have characteristic meat fibers, and when cutting a meat product, crumbling is not allowed. By the way, using one kilogram of pork produces only about 700 grams of high-quality product.