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SMITHFIELD HAM

Southern lawmakers know plenty about pork, and in Virginia, they’ve proved it. In 1926 the state legislature decreed that only country ham made from peanut-fed hogs “raised in the peanut belt of Virginia or North Carolina and cured within the town limits of Smithfield in the State of Virginia” could qualify as “Smithfield Ham.” The residency and diet requirements have been dropped, but Smithfield hams must still be cured within the town limits.

Smithfield ham is almost as old as Virginia itself. Pigs arrived in Jamestown with the colonists in 1607. Later, when Williamsburg residents complained about swine fouling the streets, the animals were exiled to an island in the James River called, appropriately, Hog Island. As peanut farming grew, farmers discovered that hogs loosed in the fields after harvest would devour the leftovers. Peanuts imparted a special flavor to the meat, which could be salted and smoked for long storage, even in hot climates.

The earliest recorded sale of Smithfield hams was in 1779, and by 1783 business was booming. Queen Victoria, we’re told, was so fond of Smithfield hams that she had a standing order for them: six every week. The world’s oldest Smithfield ham is on display in, of all places, England’s Isle of Wight County Museum. It was cured in 1902, one year after Queen Victoria’s death.

Now, that’s a squeal.

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Heirloom Recipe

CURING HAMS

When first cut, put on saltpeter, and let stand 24 hours; rub this in, in hock and meat side. Then rub in salt and brown sugar. Pack in box, with hocks inside. Leave packed six weeks. Take up and wash. Rub borax in well and let this dry; then put on molasses, thick with black pepper. Let dry. Hang up and smoke. Hang for at least a year, preferably two years.

—The Church Mouse Cook Book, compiled by the Women of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Ivy, Virginia, 1964

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MARYLAND STUFFED HAM

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

This is an old, old Maryland recipe that I tasted for the first time while on an article assignment on the Eastern Shore. Before the food processor, the stuffing must have been tedious to prepare because there were so many ingredients to chop: spinach, parsley, watercress, scallions. I now commit them all to the machine and let it do the work. This is an unusually colorful way to prepare ham; its rose-red and green hues make it a Christmas favorite. Good accompaniments: sweet potatoes prepared any which way, Green Beans with Browned Butter and Pecans, and James River Corn Pudding.

4 ounces tender young spinach, trimmed of coarse stems, washed well, and patted dry on paper toweling

1 cup loosely packed curly parsley leaves

¼ cup loosely packed tender young watercress leaves

4 medium scallions, trimmed and chunked (include some green tops)

¼ teaspoon black pepper

One 6-to 7-pound fully cooked, shank-end half ham

1½ cups dry white wine (for basting)

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F.

2. Finely chop the spinach in two batches by whizzing in a food processor for 10 seconds. As each batch is chopped, empty into a large bowl. Add the parsley, watercress, scallions, and pepper to the processor bowl and churn 10 to 12 seconds until finely chopped. Add to the spinach and toss well to combine.

3. Cut away and discard any tough rind on the ham, then trim the outer covering of fat until it is no more then ¼ inch thick. Using a sharp paring knife, make deep X-shaped cuts over the surface of the ham (each prong of the X should be about 1½ inches long), spacing the Xs about 1½ inches apart.

4. Set the ham on a counter covered with wax paper, then, using a teaspoon or your fingers, pack the spinach mixture firmly into each cut. This is messy business. Once the ham is completely stuffed, wipe its surface with dampened paper toweling to remove any spatters or spills of filling.

5. Place the ham in an ungreased large shallow roasting pan and slide onto the middle oven shelf. Bake uncovered for 2½ hours or until lightly browned, basting every half hour with the wine.

6. Remove the