The black rind of Suffolk ham acquires its color during the curing process, which uses molasses, brown sugar and local dark porter beer. Soaking the ham in this sweet marinade not only turns it black, but helps balance the flavor and distinguish it from the more salty flavors of hams that are dry-cured using only salt. The entire process takes 10 weeks, during which the ham is first dry-cured, then marinated, and then smoked. It's all worth it. And here in Suffolk, England, it has been going on for over 200 years.
— It's a beer like stout or Guinness and is the basis of our black hams. It's a local beer from the Nethergate Brewery in Clare, which is an hour and 20 minutes away, explains Mark Thomas, owner of Emmett's.
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How is black ham made?
As Mark releases the pressure from the barrel, the porter flows into the vessel. Here we will prepare enough marinade to soak 40 hams.
—The whole point of a marinade is that it permeates the ham. It adds depth and flavor. During marinating, the meat is softened by the beer. If you sit in the bathtub for half an hour and look at your fingers, they seem to be drying out and wrinkling. This meat stays in this bath for six weeks, explains Mark
The beer first boils itself for three hours at a temperature of 95 degrees Celsius. Mark then adds sugar and molasses to the marinade. That's quite a lot of sugar. It looks like we are making a cake.
— Why does this recipe have so much sugar? – I'm asking.
— This is a historical matter. The idea was to add flavor to the meat when it was very salty. Think about the fact that in the 19th or 20th century there were no or very few refrigerators and people wanted to keep their meat fresh. The way to preserve meat was salt, but eating salt in large quantities is not pleasant. So sugar was the solution, explains Mark.
Mixing sugar reminds me of the holidays. It looks like a fountain. Each marinade contains almost 40 kg of brown sugar and molasses. When the marinade is ready, it is left to cool for a day. Meanwhile, Mark strings hams that have already been cured with natural salt, black pepper and fennel seeds.
“It's a free-range pig's leg. It weighs approximately 11 kg. It's just a pig's hind leg, nothing else. It's ham, not fraud. It's quite heavy. There are 20 bone-in hams here. This one was marinated for a week. As you can see, it immediately gained color, taste and aroma. I turn them twice a week. I don't go to the gym. I pick up the ham and bacon. By turning, I get rid of the white parts and achieve an even flavor throughout the ham. As you can see, it is quite dense meat and one is placed on top of the other, so these fragments do not get any flavor – explains the man.
The black rind of Suffolk ham acquires its color during the curing process, which uses molasses, brown sugar and local dark porter beer
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The key role of the marinade
The marinating process is therefore very long. Much longer than other curing processes.
— The meat has already turned a nice color, see? – Mark asks.
— Yes, the black is starting to show. I can't keep this piece. The whole room smells quite strong. The smell is spicy and sweet, I say.
– You smell beer. It's the smell of yeast, he explains.
The meat is soaked in the marinade for six weeks. As the marinade penetrates the meat, the skin darkens. However, for all the flavors to really combine, we need the final touch: smoking. At Emmett's, hams are cold smoked, which means that the temperature in the smokehouse does not exceed 48 degrees Celsius. At a higher temperature, the hams would be cooked.
— This is our first smokehouse. We still have the original door. They date from around 1820, so they're over 200 years old, says Mark.
– How long does the meat stay in it? – I'm asking.
-I hang them there and let the marinade drip initially. Then I place them on the floor in the glass and use beech flour, which will burn for up to two days. Smoking is not part of preservation, but part of imparting flavor. Smoke, like a curing mixture or marinade, penetrates the meat. We do not “spew” smoke, it is completely natural. Like I said, it's a ham, not a scam. This is one of our black hams. She's beautiful, look at her, Mark asks.
Mark also produces boneless black ham and bacon. Treasure chest. After smoking, customers can choose cooked or uncooked ham. Hams sold in the store are cooked, but can also be baked in the oven. It smells the same as those from the other room.
As you can see, they have decreased. Boneless hams lose two to three kg. At the end they weigh about 5.7-6 kg
– he explains.
In fact, only the outer skin is black.
The royal family had black ham on their menu for over three decades
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— The skin is black, but as you can see, moisture, flavor and color get into the meat. It also becomes slightly fibrous and this is where the unusual flavor can be felt. There are people who don't like crust on toast or bread, but that's where the flavor is, says the owner of Emmett's.
Black hams are beloved locally. The company even had a document certifying that it supplied ham to the royal family. The royal family had black ham on their menu for over three decades. Unfortunately, my humble opinion is all I can offer you today. Tastes good. She's so good. It tastes very sweet and yeasty, as you mentioned. You can feel the balance between sweet and salty taste. It is still a bit gelatinous.
— There's some jelly in the middle, where the bone was. Deeper there is more and more fat and even better taste due to the fact that there is skin around it. This ham is unique to Emmett's. Like I said earlier, it's ham, not fraud, explains Mark.
Author: Claudia Romeo, journalist, Insider
