Anyone know a good online source for Virginia country hams (specfically slices, can’t deal with 10lbs)? Benton’s can’t get here by xmas. Smithfield Marketplace wants $60 for 2lbs, and the quality is only average.
A good restaurant in Staunton, VA serves this ham and it is tasty…no idea how ordering from them works.
Newsom’s Country Hams used to sell slices, but I haven’t been able to find the product on their website
I’ve found these guys to be good, but not sure of shipping time
I used to send my brother a Benton’s County Ham every Christmas. I prefer it over the Smithfield.
I’ve used a place out of Missouri before. I know it’s not Virginia, but they offer a number of options and their products have been consistently great but I am no expert on country ham. I will be having some for Xmas myself.
Burger’s Smokehouse - smokehouse.com
What is special or distinctive about a country ham from Virginia?
My local Publix and Kroger sell country ham from Clifty Farms in Paris, Tennessee.
It’s not Benton’s, but then, nothing is.
It is tasty ham, and I buy it frequently.
They’re currently having a sale, and offer free UPS Ground shipping.
Their country ham page: Home - Clifty Farm Country Hams
Surely you’re not coming on a wine forum and questioning the existence of terroir? You say the same for Jamon, Kentucky Bourbon, Carolina style barbecue, east vs west coast oysters?
What I found curious, Matt, was that you asked for a source of Virginia ham because Benton’s couldn’t deliver its Tennessee ham in time for Christmas.
And, seriously, if Virginia hams are in any way special or distinctive, I’d like to know about it.
When I was a kid, there was indeed a special ham from Virginia, the Smithfield ham. Why was it special? Because of the following attributes (required by law if the ham was to be labeled “Smithfield”):
- The hogs had to be raised in the “peanut belt,” 19 counties clustered in SE Virginia and NE North Carolina.
- The hogs had to be peanut fed.
- The hams had to be processed, cured, and smoked within the town of Smithfield VA.
But that law was repealed in 1966, and over the years the Smithfield ham lost its distinctiveness and is now (and for the last 30 years or so has been) pretty much a commodity item. But the brand name still has cachet even if the hams are no longer special.
A side story.
I spent my early years in one of those 19 counties (Tyrrell County NC). We didn’t keep brood sows, but would purchase feeder pigs and raise them for market. We raised them on peanuts, of course, 'cause peanut belt, peanut fed hogs brought higher prices. What about the pigs we raised for our own use? We turned them out in the woods (mostly loblolly pine, blackjack oak, water oak, willow oak, chinkapin oak, and hornbeam) where they subsisted on acorns and hornbeam nuts. They had a much lower market value but made for good eating.
How times do change.
Aren’t acorns the preferred diet of many upscale European porkers?
The $1000+ Spanish hams, Jamón ibérico de Bellota, are from black Iberian pigs fattened on acorns.
I’ve recently been eating, with delight, Lady Edison Extra Fancy Country Ham, from North Carolina. Rich, nutty, buttery, a little funk. Highly recommend.
http://thepigrestaurant.com/ladyedison/images/ladyedison_promocard.pdf
Sam is a friend and we eat this all the time. Sort of an interesting hybrid of traditional country ham and serrano in style.