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Black Forest ham () is a variety of dry-cured smoked
The Cooks Thesaurus - Ham
Chow.com - Black Forest Ham
GIview ID card of the Protected Geographical indication 'Schwarzwälder Schinken'
{{ham Baden cuisine Black Forest Dried meat German products with protected designation of origin Ham Smoked meat Swabian cuisine
Black Forest ham () is a variety of dry-cured smoked ham
Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...
produced in the Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
region of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
In 1959, Hans Adler from Bonndorf pioneered manufacturing and selling Original Black Forest ham by retail and mail order. Since 1997, the term ''Black Forest ham'' has been a Protected Geographical Indication in the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
, which means that any product sold in the EU as Black Forest ham must be traditionally and at least partially manufactured (prepared, processed or produced) within the Black Forest region in Germany. However, this designation is not recognized outside the EU, particularly in Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, where commercially produced hams of various types and quality are marketed and sold as Black Forest ham.
Preparation
Raw ham issalt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
ed and seasoned with garlic, coriander, pepper
Pepper or peppers may refer to:
Food and spice
* Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant
** Black pepper
* ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae
** Bell pepper
** Chili ...
, juniper berries
A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by the various species of junipers. It is not a true berry, but a cone with unusually fleshy and merged scales, which gives it a berry-like appearance. The cones from a handful of species, especia ...
and other spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spice ...
s. After curing for two to three weeks, the salt is removed and the ham aged an additional two weeks. It is then cold-smoked using "local conifers and sawdust" at around for several days. It then ripens in an air-conditioned room for several weeks, becoming almost black on the outside and acquiring much of its distinctive flavor.
Characteristics
Black Forest ham is boneless and about one-fifth fat. It has a very pronounced flavor and is common in German cuisine. It may be eaten fresh, for example on ''Holzofenbrot'' orrye bread
Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from whea ...
, with fruit, or used as an ingredient in cooked dishes. Whole pieces of Black Forest ham can be preserved for months when stored properly. It is typically served at room temperature.
Related product
Black Forest bacon () is bacon produced the same way, and comes in two categories: ''Durchwachsener Speck'' has several layers of meat, and half of it is fat; ''fetter Speck'' is almost completely fat. Both variants include the skin, calledpork rind
Pork rind is the culinary term for the skin of a pig. It can be used in many different ways.
It can be rendered, fried in fat, baked, or roasted to produce a kind of pork cracklings (US) or scratchings (UK); these are served in small piece ...
. The pork rind is too hard to eat, but it is cooked in some traditional German dishes, such as '' Linsen mit Spätzle'' or ''Eintopf
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables and m ...
'', to add its flavors to the food.
See also
*Prosciutto
''Prosciutto crudo'', in English often shortened to prosciutto ( , ), is Italian uncooked, unsmoked, and dry-cured ham. ''Prosciutto crudo'' is usually served thinly sliced.
Several regions in Italy have their own variations of ''prosciutto crud ...
* List of hams
This is a list of notable hams and ham products. Ham is pork that has been preserved through salting, smoking, or wet curing. It was traditionally made only from the hind leg of swine, and referred to that specific cut of pork."Bacon: Bacon a ...
* List of dried foods
This is a list of dried foods. Food drying is a method of food preservation that works by removing water from the food, which inhibits the growth of bacteria and has been practiced worldwide since ancient times to preserve food. Where or when d ...
* List of smoked foods
References
External links
The Cooks Thesaurus - Ham
Chow.com - Black Forest Ham
GIview ID card of the Protected Geographical indication 'Schwarzwälder Schinken'
{{ham Baden cuisine Black Forest Dried meat German products with protected designation of origin Ham Smoked meat Swabian cuisine