Virginia Ham

I was sorting through my collection of cookbooks, trying to thin the herd, but mostly getting caught up in reading books I hadn't looked at for a while. One called Vintage Virginia, A History of Good Taste (published in 2000 by the Virginia Dietetic Association) caught my eye - especially the chapter entitled Williamsburg and Tidewater Hospitality.

According to the authors; "Hams from Virginia were always special. In the early colony, the hogs were fed on a mixture of fruits and nuts from the oak, hickory, chestnut, beech, and persimmon trees. The settlers learned how the Indians salt-cured and smoked venison for preservation, and they adapted the process to pork.

Virginia ladies took great pride in the quality of their hams. Martha Washington cured her own, and it was reported that one was boiled daily for guests at Mount Vernon."

For more information about how hams were prepared for preservation in the Virginia colony check out this link from the Colonial Williamsburg Foodways program: http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter04-05/smoke.cfm