The Semi-weekly Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 1923-19??, 1932-06-28
HUGH FULLERTON.
. SAYS DOC WILSON
Continued From Page One)


having decided that it doesn't pay, but
he makes ham, and cusses cooks who
spoil ham.
Some day, when | get time, I'm go
! ing to write a poem about Doc Will
sons hams. Until | tasted them, | al
ways thought H. P was the cham
! plon ham expert in the world, and
! have contended that no ham in the
world compared with those Berkshires
/ dieted and fed to make streams of
lean and streaks of fat, carved to per-
/ fection, cured by experts and smoked
with the sweetness Of beech and hick-
ory wood smoke, favored by an occa-
sional root of the sassafras. Yet,
even with eyes closed, the flavor Of
Docs hams has something on even
/ them. Maybe it is the difference be-
tween Muskingum county and Madison
county hogs, or in methods of curing,
but Docs hams are the most succu-
lent and tender, delectable and delic-
ious, / ever have met. have theory
that he not only diets his hogs, but
prescribes specially for them.
He has a saying, that cooks should
heed, which is: at takes months to
produce a perfect ham-and it takes
bad cook five minutes to ruin it."
Which contains more truth than two
party platforms.
| often have wondered what genius
invented ham. If | could find out, ]
would start a movement, worldwide,
to erect monument to him as one
of the worlds greatest benefactors.
Oddly enough, there is no authentic
history of the discovery of ham, and
no one has written of it as was done
of the discovery of Roast Pig, which
was attributed to the Chinese, altho
| have an idea that the art Of roasting
pig was discovered by the Neander-
thai man or his grandfather.
| am certain of one thing; which is,
that curing hams is one art that did
not come out of Israel. Nor do | ac-
cept the theory that the delicacy de-
rived its name from Noah's son. Rath-
er, | have an idea that the earlier
hams were black from sun curing, and
were named in honor of Ham, who
also was sunbulned.
The town of Ham, in Germany,
which many of the A. +. r. will re-
member as a pile of ruins on the
| Somme, claims to have been the birth
place of the sugar-cured ham, but
have an idea that the town got the
name from the product.
have traced the ham back to the
Hittite city of Hama, and recent ex-
| cavations have revealed bones re-
sembling ham bones, but am not
ready to claim that the name came
from that. Certainly our earliest fore
fathers smoked their meats, and just
as certainly they soon discovered that
the most delicious meat of all was the
thigh of the wild pig.
X X
Many improvements have been
made. ! have no doubt but that the
earliest hams were merely sun dried
in desert places. The discovery OF
curing" with salt, with sugar, with
yinegars and with wood smokes fol-
lowed, and the result was that grad
ually civilization has advanced until
H p. and Doc Wilson are left as
champions of different schools of ham
making.
| have tasted ham of all kinds Har-
ry Stevens, who is the best authority
in New York on ham, sends me one of
his Virginia hams once a year.
"Dinty" Moore, who serves the best
ham and cabbage in New York, al
ways invites me to try out one of his
newest hams, and he has place in
Delaware which cures hams for him
under his direction. The secret Of
Jim Moore's reputation for ham, how
ever, depends more upon his cooking
than upon the ham itself.
| have tasted the famous York ham,
which is England's pride, and the Ir-
ish ham, most Of which is made in
Chicago and some of which is resmok-
ed with peat smoke. | have eaten the
world famous Bradenburg ham, which
Germans claim is the best of all. And
| have eaten the peach cured ham of
Georgia.
At that time / thought the Georgia
peach-cured ham was the most deIic-
ious of all. Then tasted H. P.'s spe-
cial, as cured by two fine old gentle
ladies in Muskingum county, and
sWore it was better than all others.
Then along comes old Doc Wilson,
with ham that is a song, a poem,
grand opera.
Gosh, wait till ! telephone home to
serve a double portion for supper, with
those fresh eggs.
Holman, Sidener to
pIay for Golf Title