If the world history is caused by a few pieces of bacon, you must think I'm talking nonsense, but you might as well find some history books, but you can't find Guo Moruo's On Peasant Uprising, at least you have to use Stavri and Anoos's Global History.
Europeans stand out because they have made a great discovery in the world. These foreigners risk being torn to pieces by monsters because there is no meat to eat in Europe in winter. This is a fact. I don't believe you can buy a piece of pork in the supermarket today and put it on the balcony. It will stink in three days.
Europeans thought of the method of curing meat, which was a historic breakthrough. The communication between the East and the West began after 1500 years, but before that, everyone invented ham. If Gan Ying of the Western Han Dynasty in China lived up to his mission and went to Daqin, the Roman Empire at that time, it is hard to say that today's Italian Bama ham has something to do with China Jinhua ham Xuanwei ham.
Personally, ham, like civilization, has no exact "source of civilization". It is developing and wonderful. Although China asserted that the European ham was stolen by Kyle Polo in Yuan Dynasty, and the patent fee has not been paid so far, Italians believe that ham, like noodles, is a spontaneous research between China and Italy.
Right or wrong, it's hard to say at the moment. Anyway, the most famous ham in Europe today is made in Italy, and Kelpolo is Italian.
But the difference is still obvious: "East leg" is pickled with salt, and "West leg" is brewed with the salty juice left after making cheese; "West leg" can be eaten raw, and "East leg" can only be cooked before eating.
We are all descendants of "legs" and eat a lot of ham, but the "legs" of China and the West are not necessarily the same. Therefore, we might as well compare the famous "East Leg" and "West Leg".
If the ham is a pink rose, it will be tempting and sad if the knife falls. Photography: Our reporter Huang Hao.
East leg: Walk on two legs.
East-west section
Although people in Ji 'an, Jiangxi insist that their "Anfu Ham" is one of the three famous legs of China, most people agree that the most famous hams in China are Jinhua in Zhejiang and Xuanwei in Yunnan.
1September, 979, Ci Hai published by Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House contained: "Ham, the name of food. ..... China specialty, according to the processing area, there are three categories: south leg, north leg and cloud leg ... "
South leg, natural Jinhua ham is no different; Yuntui, as its name implies, is Yunnan ham; The northern leg, if not the northern leg of Wulin Nanquan, should be Rugao ham in Jiangsu, but its reputation is obviously not as good as the first two.
The ham in Xuanwei, Yunnan Province is famous because the local pig breeds have strong meat quality, so the legs and body have a strong meat flavor. The curing time of cloud legs generally takes three to six years, of which ten-year-old legs are the best. Compared with Jinhua's south leg, there are more fat creams, and the fragrance and salt are slightly lighter. As for the cooking method, it is similar. In addition to cooking, you can also mix it with fresher materials, such as vegetables and mushrooms. Yuntui has a thick layer of fat, but it is the essence of the whole dish. Cooked will only recede the rough epidermis. Because the legs are soft, they should be tied with cotton rope, set up, then swept with honey, steamed on high fire for an hour to neutralize the salty taste, and decorated with fried mint leaves. At the entrance, a thick layer of fat is slippery and oily, which can not only make up for the dryness of the meat, but also make people memorable.
The best curing time of Jinhua ham is from October to November, the temperature should be lower than 8 degrees Celsius, and the curing time should be two or three months. The rainy season from February to April, coupled with the north wind blowing, is the time for shelf fermentation. By May, the ham will be leveled, squashed and shaped. Finally, fold the ham and squeeze out the oil at a high temperature of more than 30 degrees Celsius. The "Jiangtui" in Shangjiang Village, Beijiang Town, Dongyang City is the top grade of Jinhua ham. In the Qing dynasty, it was called "Xue Fei Jiang Leg", which was a tribute to the court, so it was also called "Gong Leg". Jinhua ham should not be eaten raw, and it is best to match it with light materials such as melons and vegetables and shark's fin.
I eat Jinhua ham in Guangzhou, which is usually the last romance on the third floor of CITIC Plaza. The most famous here are honey sauce, fire fertilizer and old chicken stewed by fire pupils. The former 88 yuan, the latter 128 yuan, is not cheap.
If I used to think that ham was salty, solid, fat and stuffy, then this impression has completely changed after trying honey juice. In order to create a better taste, the chef deliberately chose the fire pupil, that is, the part of the ham near the joints, because its meat color is ruddy, solid and not heavy. Soak in clear water for five hours, remove the salty taste of ham, cut into half an inch thick, soak in sugar water boiled with rock sugar and osmanthus, and steam for another two hours. Use the sweet taste like candied fruit to balance its salt and increase the brightness of color. The entrance is soft but slightly tough, making it loose and sweet. Want to enrich the taste, eat it with a small steamed bun, which is not greasy at all, and almost makes people forget that they are eating fat pig legs.
As for the old chicken stewed by fire pupils, everyone who has studied cooking knows that this is the basic formula of broth.
Ham meets old chicken, which can only be described in one word-fresh and evil. Photography: Our reporter Huang Hao.
Xitui: Ham is not bacon.
The names of intellectuals who say "knowledge is power" are Francis Bacon, Bacon and British Bacon. Novices generally interpret bacon as ham, but if they meet a strict western-style chef, they will be furious: bacon is smoked bacon and ham is ham!
It may not be satisfactory to distinguish ham from bacon by smoking or not. Ham in China is mostly smoked, but in Europe today, ham often refers to a certain kind of radio lovers.
As mentioned earlier, European ham is just like Italian Parma ham. Not long ago, a piece of news caught people's attention. Paramat, which accounts for 1.5% of Italy's gross national product, went bankrupt. Everyone is familiar with Paramat Milk and Parma Football Club related to this company, but do you know that the famous Parma ham is also produced in large quantities by this company? Bama, Parma and Paramat are all related to the same initials. In short, the legs here are very powerful.
Bama ham is the most famous ham in Italy. Its color is bright red, like a pink rose, its fat is evenly distributed and its taste is the softest of all hams. Many restaurants choose Langxinuo ham from the highest mountain area in Parma. Local farms will feed pigs with secret recipes, and pigs with a weight of 100 kg, moderately fat legs and uniform fat distribution must be used. In addition, it will be air-dried for 18 months, and the meat quality will be "hydrated" on average, which is fragrant but not salty.
Italians don't eat ham alone because it's too tasteless. They used to slice the ham and roll up the cantaloupe to eat. Hami melon should be cooked and sweet, so as to fully set off the flavor of ham and have a lingering fragrance after tasting. The sweetness of cantaloupe neutralizes the salty taste of ham, making it soft and refreshing with strong contrast. Whether it is texture or taste, it is a perfect match.
The beauty of honey fire grease is that it permeates the sweetness of osmanthus. Photography: Our reporter Huang Hao.
□ The finishing touch of a celebrity chef
Ham's leg fetish
Chen Zhuang, a famous chef, is also a ham, and the good thing is ham. Because there are not many places selling Bama ham in mainland China, Chen Zhuang specially made some to taste with old friends when he returned home. Of course, cantaloupe has a classic way of eating. Because the method is simple, if you have the chance to get Bama ham, you might as well try it yourself at home. Chen Zhuang also taught another way to eat raw Bama ham: roll raw ham slices with boiled asparagus, which is delicious and easy to eat.
Bama ham is oily and salty. Besides being eaten raw, it is also suitable for cooking cooked food with other materials to improve the taste, but it is incompatible with red meat with heavy meat flavor because the taste is incompatible. With meat, it is best to choose fish. The fat of ham can penetrate into fish to enhance the umami flavor.
Finished hams all have similar skins. Photography: Our reporter Huang Hao.
Everyone is having an affair.
Except Italy, all western countries have their own representative legs.
Bayon ham
Almost every district in France has its own salted ham and smoked ham, among which the ham in Basque country is the most famous. It was smoked in Hortas, southwest France, and belongs to a kind of raw ham, namely jambon cru. The marinade contains red wine, rosemary and olive oil. Pickled, wrapped with straw, and then smoked.
Westphalia ham
One of the most famous German hams, like Baione and Parma, is raw ham. This rich dark ham needs long-term aging after being cured and smoked with salt, sugar and saltpeter.
Smithfield ham
This kind of ham is named after a small town in Virginia, because its making method was invented by the residents of the town. Virginia ham is a miniature version of this kind of ham. The production method of Smithfield ham is to rub salt and saltpeter twice, then wash them off, then smoke them with hickory, then put pepper on them, and leave them for more than 18 months to make the ham mature.
Suffolk ham
This expensive English ham is soaked in honey syrup instead of salt water, so the skin of the ham will turn very conspicuous black.
According to legend, eight hundred years ago, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty wanted to rebuild the splendid land of abundance, so he chose a good day early and ordered all the officials to come to the court to make plans for the country and bring a delicious meal to Lang Gong.
After the imperial edict went down, the officials of the civil and military officials in the DPRK immediately sent people to run around, wading through mountains and rivers, and collecting rare delicacies. On that day, someone brought beautiful birds from the sky; Some bring strange fish in the sea; Others brought exotic beasts in the valley and famous dishes in the fields. ...
At that time, there was a general in North Korea, Zong Ze, who came from Yiwu. To this end, he returned to his hometown all the way. It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the villagers invited Zong Ze to taste zongzi made of salted pork legs, which is a favorite food for hometown people all year round. Zong Ze tasted it and found the salty pork leg inside delicious, so he chose some of the best salty pork legs to take to Kyoto for the emperor. The emperor and the civil and military officials tasted the salty pork leg and were full of praise.
In memory of the famous hometown of Zong Ze, please give this salty pig leg a name. So, civil and military officials discussed each other. It is said that the meat of salted pork leg has its unique taste and bright red color. Call it ham!
From then on, word of mouth, "Ham" became more and more famous, the market became wider and wider, and it was praised by people at home and abroad.
To tell the truth, Jinhua, Dongyang, Yiwu, Pujiang, Yongkang and other counties are rich in ham. At that time, because these counties belonged to the old Jinhua House, they were generally called "Jinhua Ham".