Posted on 01/28/2017 4:12:37 PM PST by ak267
Salt pork was a very popular meat in the 18th century. In this video we explain how to prepare you own.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Jas. Townsend and Son have a lot of good stuff. Very interesting too
Salt pork is very popular in the south to this day. It’s called Country Ham.
Looks like a very interesting series of videos. Thanks for posting!
This is great, thanks for posting!
I love country ham. Yes, I’m trying to lower my salt intake but country ham is one of the finer things in life.
Hmmm, I wonder if it had anything to do with the limited food preservation techniques at the time? /s
In the "A Chef's Life" holiday special, Vivian had a guy on that demonstrated how to make corned pork using parts from a freshly killed pig.
Bkmk
We’ve gotten a little carried away with it in modern times. Back when, country ham was soaked to reduce the saltiness before cooking. Now, we just fry it up and eat it. It’s very good, I think, but it is very salty. I actually love fried fatback, ever had that? Not for people with high blood pressure, lol.
Other than dirty water and menstrual bread, it’s the only other thing to feed to convicted islamos while in jail.
I’ve never tried fried fatback, but I will sometime. My doctor would go ballistic, so I just won’t mention it at his office on my next visit.
Particularly Smithfield hams
Salt and vinegar were the preferred preservation methods that came over with the colonists in the early colonial era. Sugar was expensive to the point of being a status symbol then, and not always widely available. Several southern dietary habits go back centuries like this salt cured ham. Very sweet desserts and sweet tea, for instance. It was a treat to have sugar to even make a dessert or sweeten your tea. Then sugar became more of a commodity. Sugar cured ham became more popular. The traditional desserts, once sort of status-ey and only for special occasions, became widely available.
James Townsend & Son is where I buy a lot of my period clothes and accessories. Some of my dresses I make myself if I feel productive, but it’s a lot easier to buy them. I dig around in antique shops a lot also.
Fry it up crisp. Eat it with breakfast.
Virginia produces some fine ham. So does NC for that matter. Every place has it’s own local or regional country ham producer, but Smithfield has been the go-to big brand seemingly forever. Bought by Chinese though, I believe. Hope that doesn’t negatively impact anything, but it usually does.
Bfl
If you buy Country Ham in the store you should soak it for a bit in warm water to take some of the salt out before frying.
I watched many a hog-killin’ and preservation during my childhood. Packed those hams & shoulders in salt for a period, then wash and bag them and hang them in the smoke house where they were Hickory smoked from the smoke pots on the floor. Fresh pork chops for a few days. Bacon also salted & smoked. Ribs mostly canned. Pickled pig feet, ears, tongue and head cheese (souse). Nothing was wasted. Yes that was because there was no refrigeration.
are you a re-enactor or a member of a hereditary society ???
Smithfield to me is waaaay too salty. I prefer cooking my own ham
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.