IN 1779, Capt. Mallory Todd, of Smithfield in Virginia, shipped a quantity of cured hams to Elliston and John Perot on the Caribbean island of St. Eustatius. In return, Capt. Mallory received, among other items, a 2-pound cannon and a hat. This transaction marked the first known commercial sale of the now-legendary Smithfield hams.
Connoisseurs recognize the Smithfield ham as one of the world's great delicacies. On a par with Spain's Serranos and Italy's Parmas and prosciuttos, genuine Smithfield has a distinctive dark-pink color and pungent flavor--robust, salty, and rich with hardwood smoke.
A Smithfield ham is very much a product of American history and environment. As early as 1609, the Jamestown colonists were raising hogs for food. A hog could be turned loose in the woods to forage for itself--unlike a cow, which needed particular food and was not nearly as hardy. Hogs flourished on oak and beech mast and were grazed in peanut fields after the harvest to fatten up on any remaining nuts. The American Indians showed the European settlers methods for using salt and wood smoke to cure the meat for storage.
Though Mallory Todd's original smokehouse on the bank of the Pagan River has grown into today's giant Smithfield Foods, and curing hams is no longer a strictly seasonal activity, the basic product has remained nearly constant. In 1926, the General Assembly of the commonwealth of Virginia enacted a law stipulating that a genuine Smithfield ham must be made from a peanut-fed razorback hog, raised in the "peanut belt" of Virginia or North Carolina and cured within the town limits of Smithfield. Since that time, the town limits have had to be expanded a time or two, and in 1968, a Senate bill was passed stating that the hogs no longer had to be raised in the peanut belt. But to carry the proud title "Genuine Smithfield," the ham still must be made within the town's limits, following the traditional process.
Gwaltney, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, is the only company currently producing genuine Smithfield hams. After the hogs are slaughtered and the meat chilled for 24 hours, the hams are removed. Each ham initially weighs around 17 to 20 pounds; long cuts have a piece of the pork loin attached, adding another 3 to 4 pounds. The hams are rolled in pure sea salt, free of any impurities or heavy metals that may be present in regular table salt, and allowed to sit for seven days. At that point, the salt is brushed and rinsed off, and the ham is resalted. The double salting process draws moisture from the meat, partially dehydrating the ham.
The second salting lasts for 21 days. Then the salt is removed, and the meat is coated with a curing solution and hung. This "equalization" process lasts for about 40 days, allowing air to flow past the curing hams. The hams receive another six to eight months of air drying and two weeks of smoking using real hickory wood. According to a 1961 law, hams must be cured for a minimum of 180 days.
A genuine Smithfield ham does not actually need to be cooked, and will keep indefinitely. In fact, a ham currently in the Isle of Wight Museum, once the "pet ham" of P.D. Gwaltney, Jr., was originally cured in 1902.
Today, Smithfield Foods is the largest ham company in existence. Tim Seely, president of Gwaltney, states that "Smithfield truly is the ham capital of the world." Gwaltney makes over a million pieces of country-cured ham annually, of which 100,000 are "Genuine Smithfield" hams with the distinctive, salty taste. About a dozen other variations on the original are marketed under three other labels.
"We truly have that Old World ham that many of us grew up with," says Seely. "The trick is to slice it paper-thin and incorporate it with something to counter the saltiness." A sandy-haired gentleman with an easy smile, Seely seems the embodiment of Southern graciousness as he explains how to prepare a genuine Smithfield: "You can slice it thicker and heat through in a pan of water. Red-eye gravy was made from the water that the ham was cooked in. Soak it overnight, boil it, drain it, and heat it through in the oven.
"Once in a while you have to treat yourself."
Hams are not the only delight to be found on the banks of the Pagan River. Though only 30 minutes' drive from the bustle of Norfolk and Virginia's burgeoning Hampton Roads, the town of Smithfield has made a conscious effort to retain its small-town serenity and charm. With just over 7,000 residents, the town boasts a nine-square-block registered historic district and 25 shops and specialty stores including nearly a dozen antiques shops. Many of the houses--particularly a squadron of Victorian "painted ladies"--reflect Smithfield's prosperous past.
The Smithfield Inn is one of the town's oldest structures, initially built in 1752, the year of the town's founding. Currently owned by Smithfield Foods, the Inn offers sumptuous meals and lodging. The decor and furnishings are lush and luxurious with Victorian Southern accents, gracious amenities, fresh flowers and upholstered walls above the wainscoting in the guest rooms. One of the inn's most renowned attractions is its ham biscuits, prepared by Mozell Brown, who has been cooking at the Inn since the 1950s.
Brown's Smithfield Inn ham biscuits were chosen as Virginia's representative in USA Today's "50 Plates of America." The biscuit is a yeast roll, light, with a papery crust that collapses in the mouth. The contrast of the salty ham against the slightly sweet biscuit is terrific. The combination leaves a slightly greasy feeling on the lips and a pleasant smoky flavor on the palate.
Smithfield ham, the town, and the inn's ham biscuits were catapulted into the international spotlight in 2002 when the town celebrated it 250th birthday by baking the world's largest ham biscuit. Using a specially designed and constructed oven, a crew of nearly a dozen people used over 1,000 pounds of flour and 500 pounds of sliced ham to create the buttermilk biscuit. The delicacy spent over 14 hours in a 300-degree oven, and chef Michael Toepper and his crew needed a forklift to shift it. When finished, the biscuit was 14 inches thick and 8 feet in diameter, and weighed in at 2,200 pounds. The whole event made CNN News and was seen around the world.
REED HELLMAN is a freelance writer living in Alberton, Md. E-mail your questions and comments to RHKitchenGuy@yahoo.com.