The Frugal Gourmet

Back at the start of the year I started to make some Jambon Sec the post for that can be found here. I was planning on leaving the ham to hang for 6 months but with the recent warm weather and a ham feeling very firm to the touch I decided it was time for a little taste test.

This is not a problem with air dried ham as it is quite normal to eat what you want and rehang the meat, so it was with some excitement that I unhooked the ham which was now 4 months old. The ham unwrapped had no sign of any black mould, a good thing, and cut beautifully in to thin pink slices.

It ate very well, a little salty but still very acceptable and with a moreish taste! But after the initial saveur the purpose of the sampling came back to mind and after a bit more lip-smacking I realised that despite the warm weather the ham still needed another couple of months to bring it on to a perfect texture.

Still it was great to check how it was doing, Julie enjoyed a couple of small slices but didn’t eat a lot as she claimed she didn’t want to eat to much fat. I think the real reason was that she wanted to check that I didn’t drop down dead! As I am still around that is another little test duly passed.

Roll on July