Using Spanish Ham on passage

[agurney]

We are currently in Spain before setting off to the Caribbean. They have fantastic dried hams here. I wondered about hanging one in the rigging and eating our way through it as we cross.

Will this work or will it go mouldy or spoil?

Another option is to buy pre-packed. You can buy sliced and vacuum packed in decent portion sizes for around a euro with a shelf life of over a year.
Hams are variable, so if you get one that's too strong/slimy/stringy you're stuck with it for a long time.
Also, consider pork loin: "lomo embuchado"

 

[timmygobang]

Don't forget to buy lots of tins of fabada (asturian stew), its amazing stuff for long passages!

 

[tcm]

I've not taken a ham across but i know boats who have. Kept in the galley, no big issue. Quite good for singlehanded nibbling.

 

[Woodlouse]

I was told that on one of the Spanish Volvo 70's one of the watches had a ham hidden in the mast for one of the legs.

 

[pmagowan]

In the smart restaurants in Madrid they leave the hams in a chrome plated wire cradle/stand and slice chunks off ( not thin slices like Parma ham) to serve to customers when needed.

Jabugo is the gourmet one, from pigs fed only on acorns and hams hung in caves to cure that have a particular fungus spore in the air I believe. I used to work for a Madrid company and really love those hams. Serrano ham is more available and good too and even available sliced in the UK, even LIDL carried it. I used to stock up on vacuum packs of it from Carrefour in Cherbourg too beats the heck out of the cr4p sold over here .

We buy Italian versions from a farm down the road. They last many many months if stored hanging up. It is a good idea to get a ham clamp which assists greatly when cutting it. There is a technique, it needs de-rinded on the bit you are going to cut, and then sliced. It can be used fresh for as long as it lasts. If it starts to worry you then just cook with it, lovely in pasta. To be honest, if unopened it would last for eternity so the only way it really goes off is if you start to slice it and then dont use it for ages so that the open bit starts to get bad. Even then most of the moulds are likely to be like the cheese types and harmless but if you don't like that sort of thing then cut a chunk out to get a new fresh surface. Flies are not particularly keen on it but should be kept off the fresh surface if stored for any length of time.

We find it surprisingly easy to eat a whole one! Especially with some nice fresh local red wine and pecorino cheese. I have often thought that for traveling the Italians (and probably similarly the Spanish) have got it right, cured ham, red wine, hard cheese and a lump of dry bread. Add a dash of olive oil and it is food fit for a King but requires no fridge.

 

[oldvarnish]

I have often thought that for traveling the Italians (and probably similarly the Spanish) have got it right, cured ham, red wine, hard cheese and a lump of dry bread. Add a dash of olive oil and it is food fit for a King but requires no fridge.

You didn't see Horizon last week, then, where we were told that if you are 40 years old, and you regularly eat cured meats (ham, salami, sausages etc), then you are reducing your life expectancy by an hour a day!
Won't put me off a good ham, mind you.

 

[pmagowan]

You didn't see Horizon last week, then, where we were told that if you are 40 years old, and you regularly eat cured meats (ham, salami, sausages etc), then you are reducing your life expectancy by an hour a day!
Won't put me off a good ham, mind you.

That programme was a lesson in why correlation does not equal causation.

 

[GrahamM376]

You didn't see Horizon last week, then, where we were told that if you are 40 years old, and you regularly eat cured meats (ham, salami, sausages etc), then you are reducing your life expectancy by an hour a day!
Won't put me off a good ham, mind you.

Strange that peasants in many countries who live on this sort of stuff live far longer than the so-called "food educated" mass population. There will be another report in a month or year disputing this one so why worry?

 

[oldvarnish]

That programme was a lesson in why correlation does not equal causation.

Do you think it should be why correlation 'might not' equal causation? It's just possible they're right.

Sorry - not much to do with sailing with ham.

 

[oldvarnish]

Strange that peasants in many countries who live on this sort of stuff live far longer than the so-called "food educated" mass population.

Yes, I once wrote a book about ham and visited several central European cultures where the pig is still kept in the backyard. Cured pig has kept peasants going for centuries. I'd like to think that what you say is true, but I've not seen a figure to support it.

Again - apologies. Not very much to do with ham and boats.

 

[stevepick]

We took a decent ham (Jubago) bought in the Cortes ingles in Gran Canaria across the atlantic on the ARC in 2011. We hung it in the galley, but rigged a bucket underneath it once we got really warm ( around 16/17° N)to catch the odd drip of fat. It was all eaten after about 16 days ( 6 crew ). It kept fine, and was used in almost everything - sandwiches, snacks, omlettes, stews, canapes with sherry . They can be a pain to slice finely in a bouncing galley, but are well worth it.

 

[Petronella]

Thanks for all your replies.

I am now convinced we should get one and hang it either in the galley or covered in a cloth (my initial idea) in the rigging. Thanks too for all the other suggestions which we will definitely consider once we get to the Canaries.

 

[alan_d]

Strange that peasants in many countries who live on this sort of stuff live far longer than the so-called "food educated" mass population. There will be another report in a month or year disputing this one so why worry?

I suspect that not all cured meats are equivalent. A particular problem occurs when nitrites are used in the curing process as these are converted to toxic nitrosamines in the gut. Are nitrites used in air-cured hams?

 

[oldvarnish]

Are nitrites used in air-cured hams?

I would guess that they are. As I understood it, the use of nitrites maintain the pink colour in a ham, otherwise it goes grey. Sorry, don't know the chemistry here.