References
Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.
1661
- Aug
1667
- Jun
1669
- Mar
Ham
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Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.
3 Annotations
Second Reading
San Diego Sarah • Link
On August 22, 1661 Pepys refers to a Westphalia ham,
On June 8, 1667 and June 15, 1669 Sam refers to “a ham of French bacon” and “a ham of bacon”.
The definitions says that a ham can be cut from the hind leg of a pig or from other parts of the carcass, so it's a slightly less specific term.
On the other hand, bacon is pork meat cut from parts of the pig other than the legs, such as the back, loin, collar or the belly.
Other differences are that bacon is sold raw, and must be cooked before being eaten.
This information comes from https://wiltshirebacon.com/what-i….
Westphalia ham
The traditional Westphalian Ham takes its name from the region of Germany where it was first developed. Pigs fattened on acorns produced the ham, then the meat was dry cured and smoked over the beechwood and juniper branches of the region.
This comes from https://schallerweber.com/product…
French bacon
Well the confusion about what this means goes back to William the Conquer.
For many ideas, see https://behind-the-french-menu.bl….
Third Reading
San Diego Sarah • Link
In 2004 David Ross McIrvine answered the question "What was special about Westphalian Ham?"
He reported that the Prussians hung up their hams in smoking closets, and that was their secret -- which the English didn't copy until the 18th century.
"WESTPHALIA HAM: This Prussian ham was much prized in the 17th and 18th centuries for its delicate flavour, due to the fragrant woods over which it was smoked and the diet of acorns on which the pigs were fed. The cookery books of the period all give painstaking receipts for imitating Westphalian ham. (John Nott, 1726)"
Hazlitt has several mentions of Westphalia ham in his *Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine*, and cites a late 17th century English receipt for making pork taste like Westphalian ham.
The Hazlitt is available on-line, courtesy of Project Gutenberg
https://archive.org/stream/oldcoo…
San Diego Sarah • Link
JWB also in 2004 said this about Westphalia hams:
It's a salt dried ham smoked in Juniper smoke, like a Virginia ham in hicory smoke.
[The hostess] would have put it in a pot of water to soak ... two days [before the gathering] to rehydrate, and it's baked on the third.