1: Spanish ham
Spaniards love ham, and it is as proud as the quintessence of Chinese culture here. Whether it is a famous shopping mall in Madrid, a street market in Barcelona or a pub in Seville, you can eat this delicious food. Among Spanish ham, Iberian ham is the best, and it is one of the nine legendary ingredients in Europe.
This kind of ham is made of black-haired pigs. These pigs only eat wild acorns and live an elegant and healthy life. They will be stored for about two years. In spring, farmers will bury these slaughtered pigs in sea salt, let them fully taste them, then regenerate and pickle them for about two months, and finally put them in the cellar to dry for about a year before they can be regarded as finished products.
Iberian ham is salty and sweet, fragrant and tender. The beautiful marble pattern makes it look as delicate as a work of art. Slicing it into thin slices is an excellent enjoyment.
2: Italian Parma Ham
Italy is also a country rich in ham. Almost every city has its own signboard, but the most famous one is Parma ham in Parma province in northern Italy.
It is made up of traditional Italian pig breeds, large white Landrace and Duroc pigs, which grew up eating scraps of local Parma cheese and milk residue.
When these pigs grow to about 150 kg, they will be sent to slaughter. After slaughter, it should be soaked in special salt for more than one month, then air-dried, to squeeze out the water in the leg meat, and then wrapped with salt and pig fat mixed with black pepper, which can not only achieve the pickling effect, but also avoid the ham from being contaminated by bacteria during processing. Parma ham will take about 20 months to come into the market.
3. Jinhua ham
Jinhua ham is the first thing that comes to mind when China mentions ham. Jinhua ham is made of double-headed black pigs and is a specialty of Jinhua. This kind of pig is born with black head and tail, white body, thin skin and thin bones, proper meat and fat ratio at both ends, fat hind legs and tender muscles, which is a prerequisite for making a good ham.
On the other hand, the production technology of Jinhua ham is also very distinctive. After the two black heads with proper fat are slaughtered, they should be preserved in Jinhua where the local temperature is suitable. When cleaning and drying, sufficient sunshine and suitable temperature and humidity are needed during fermentation, so that the ham can be fermented normally during air drying.
Jinhua ham cured by strict procedures has bright skin and fresh meat, good color, slender and round legs like pipa, dark red and transparent color, tender and fragrant meat at the entrance, and it is a good ingredient to make the finishing touch when eaten raw or into vegetables.
Extended data:
Ham is divided into super, first, second and third grades. It is necessary for a knowledgeable person to insert a label to judge the quality of ham. The label is made of bamboo, like an awl. A ham has three different parts, and each symbol is in a different part. According to different positions, it is divided into three signs: upper, middle and lower.
Requirements for super legs: claws should be bent, ankles should be thin, legs should be full of leaves, fat thickness should not exceed 2 cm, and all three signs should have good fragrance.
First-class leg requirements: two of the three signs should have a good smell, but none of the three signs should have an odor. Secondary leg requirements: no odor. Three-level leg requirements: a sign stinks.
Super ham and first-class ham have red rings, second-class ham has yellow rings and third-class ham has no rings. These three kinds of hams are all printed with gallnut ink.
References:
Ham Baidu encyclopedia