The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1876-10-27
-.--.a-,1-rFpEB,s COLUMN.
,.,r.otire story of a Ham; Hith Vdri-
ne A'' Gus Recipes.

HOUSEKEEFEn o
,,s,y,ctire Story Of a Ham, "t''
ne D''' oas Recipes.
80 the editors of Turf, Field and
:. o ~, received from friend a present OF
: : 'haautiful ham. How 1t shauld De
" ~ 70 be perfect puzzled him, but he
e III solved the problem. His story
h i,,-. it valuable information for house,
-. :. it is enough to make one 60 and
t Hs ham at onces the editor shall tell
it himself .l.,
inch mental travail, the question
bainr its culinary treatment; that great
sS.oture artist, our friend Johannis
C-onus of Baltimore, was far away,
% paTrv GRAY not to be found, and, solitary
and alone. we had TO assume the re-
feasibility and decide the question.
We took down from the shelf our cher /
isbed edition of Brillat Sayarin, we
r.rsd over the oft thumbed pages of the
Almanac des Commands, and a few of
NJ, sam Wards exquisite menus, pre-
,orsd bv the skillful hands of Welcker
and Switzerland; we remembered as a
how hearing at his own wellserved table
The oracular dictum of the late Lieut.
Gem. Winfield Scott, that ga ham should
haboiled until it could be eaten with
snoon." but we still remained in doubt
az 70 what should be done, when old
Aunt Fanny, native of Albemarle, the
noble county which produced the ham,
came to our relief, and here is how she
did it The ham was put under the by
-0SSnt, and the soft waters of the Passaic,
ered on the heights of Jersey City,
conveyed to our culinary sanctum
from pipes, were suffered TO pour over
htNn a bounteous stream the live-long
: ght. At the first glimmering Of the
dawn on the following morning it was
4 reverently lifted from the tub and care
fully scraped and dried; Immediately
, thereafter it was placed in a large pot
filed, not with water unanimously
boiling, but simmering gently, and there
it was tenderly watched for six hours
then il was taken out and wiped again,
placed in Il smaller pot, and six bottles
Of sparkling Newark cider poured upon
it, and again it was allowed to simmer an
additional two hours, at the end of which
time it was cast into large tub of water
iced to hyperborean frigidity. and there
left until cold. 1 was then wiped dry
for the third time and put away for mex
days eating. And why was it not eater
at once, it may be asked? Perhaps W.
wished to exercise the virtue of self
denial, but the truth is there is a pleas
ure in anticipation which none ap
preciate so well as your true gourmet
i and we know No such stimulant to tn
T appetite.
The next day, when with a keen-edged
thin-bladed knife we carved delicate
: rosy slices from that ham, its deliciou
flavor and divine aroma would hav
p revived a moribund epicure Memoir,
r carried us back to those halcyou ante
e bellum days, when southern hospitalit,
: was without limit, and when ever,
e planters smoke-house was filled witt
: just such meat from sill to roof tree.
We have often wondered why sucl
= bacon was not made at the north, an,
] We fancy the question was best answere,
+ by old Mr.. Marshall of Virginia, whel
, he remarked that no hog could max
good bacon unless at some period of hi
life he had snorted boob ut somebody
e meaning thereby that, to make goo,
meathogs should run wild in a fores
: range and subsist on the oak and chest
i nut mast, and shen be taken up and fat
G tened rapidly with corn; and this w
t believe TO be true, for even the fame,
sugaFcured hams must cede the palm t,
the Maryland, the Virginia aud tn,
Wesiphalia bacon, all of which is mad,
from hogs which for the greater perio,
of their lives run III the range.
Bat to return to our Ficklen ham
Wehad intended it for the celebration
of the everglorious 2Ist of July, but ther
we Rnembered there was many sir
between the cup and the lip, life is un
certain, and we might not live to Sc,
: another Dist of July, and that, if we did
some other friend in Virginia would
provide for the anniversary.
And now let US come to the philosophy
of Aunt Fannie's modus operandi. The
running water was TO take out the sur
plus salt and soften the meat; the ham
was simmered, because no culinary art
fist ever boils anything edible; the ham
was wiped and scraped, because it was tc
be served as all old hams should be, cold
and in its jacket; it was simmered il
cider, because the maIiic and the carboniC
acids added delicious piquancy to the
flavor, and finally twas plunged seethine
hot into ice-celd water to CONCEAL anC
hold in place the precious juices of the
meat.