Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking. As a processed meat, the term ham includes both whole cuts of meat and ones that have been mechanically formed.
Prosciutto crudo, in English often shortened to prosciutto, is uncooked, unsmoked, and dry-cured ham. Prosciutto crudo is usually served thinly sliced.
Jamón is a type of dry-cured ham produced in Spain. It is one of the most globally recognized food items of Spanish cuisine. It is also regularly a component of tapas.
Presunto is dry-cured ham from Portugal, similar to Italian prosciutto or Spanish jamón. Among the wide variety of presuntos in Portugal, the most famous are presunto from Chaves, produced in the north of Portugal, and that from the Alentejo, in the south, made from local Alentejano pigs.
Jamón ibérico, known in Portuguese as presunto ibérico, is a variety of jamón or presunto, a type of cured leg of pork produced in Spain and Portugal, in the Iberian Peninsula. It is considered a staple of both Portuguese cuisine and Spanish cuisine.
Elenski but is a dry-cured ham from the town of Elena, in northern Bulgaria, and a popular delicacy throughout the country. The meat has a specific taste and can be preserved in the course of several years, owing much to the special process of making and the climatic conditions of the part of Stara Planina where Elena is located.
Tyrolean speck is a distinctively juniper-flavored ham originally from Tyrol, a historical region that since 1918 partially lies in Italy. Its origins at the intersection of two culinary worlds is reflected in its synthesis of salt-curing and smoking.
Salumi are Italian meat products typical of an antipasto, predominantly made from pork and cured. Salumi also include bresaola, which is made from beef, and some cooked products, such as mortadella and prosciutto.
Bayonne ham or jambon de Bayonne is a cured ham that takes its name from the ancient port city of Bayonne in the far southwest of France, a city located in both the cultural regions of Basque Country and Gascony. It has PGI status.
Speck Alto Adige is a dry-cured, lightly smoked ham produced in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Parts of its production are regulated by the European Union under the protected geographical indication (PGI) status.
Speck can refer to a number of European cured pork products, typically salted and air-cured and often lightly smoked but not cooked. In Germany, speck is pickled pork fat with or without some meat in it. In the Netherlands and Flanders, in Dutch, spek means bacon. Throughout much of the rest of Europe and parts of the English-speaking culinary world, speck often refers to South Tyrolean speck, a type of Italian smoked ham. The term speck became part of popular parlance only in the eighteenth century and replaced the older term bachen, a cognate of bacon.
Gammon in British English is the hind leg of pork after it has been cured by dry-salting or brining, and may or may not be smoked. Strictly speaking, a gammon is the bottom end of a whole side of bacon ; ham is just the back leg cured on its own. Like bacon it must be cooked before it can be eaten; in that sense gammon is comparable to fresh pork meat, and different from dry-cured ham like jamón serrano or prosciutto. The term is mostly used in the United Kingdom and Ireland; other dialects of English largely make no distinction between gammon and ham.
Anfu ham is a type of dry-cured ham named after the town of Anfu in Jiangxi, China, where it originated. Red with a yellowish tint, the ham's skin is thin, but the meat itself is thick. The ham gets its flavor from being salted and smoked and can be eaten on its own or used to add flavor to dishes. It is made in Anfu and other locations.
Jinhua ham is a type of specialty dry-cured ham named after the city of Jinhua, where it is produced, in Zhejiang province, China. The ham is used in Chinese cuisines to flavor stewed and braised foods as well as for making the stocks and broths of many Chinese soups. The ham was awarded first prize in the 1915 Panama International Merchandise Exhibition.
Xuanwei ham is a dry-cured ham in Qujing Prefecture of Yunnan province, China. Xuanwei ham has a 250-year history dating back to 1766. In 1909 it was first mass-produced and gained popularity. In 1915 Xuanwei ham won a gold medal at Panama International Fair. Xuanwei ham enjoys a high reputation both internationally and locally. The ham is "rose-red" in color and similarly shaped to a pipa.
Rugao ham is a dry-cured ham that originated in Jiangsu province, China. It dates to the Qing dynasty, and was first prepared circa 1851. Rugao ham is produced in a variety of flavors, colors and weights. The local breed of Jiangquhai pigs are typically used for the ham. In contemporary times, it is produced in Rugao, Jiangsu province, which the ham is named after. It is a well-known ham in China.
Sausages and cured meats are widely consumed in Switzerland. Meat in general is consumed on a daily basis, pork being particularly ubiquitous in Swiss cuisine. Preserving meat by smoking it or by adding salt has been done for millennia in Switzerland.
This article provides information on animal production and consumption in Switzerland.
