page_title: Cuisine of Carmarthenshire
section_title: Meat
hierarchical_section_title: Cuisine of Carmarthenshire / Meat
caption_attribution_description: 1 negative&#160;: glass, dry plate, b&amp;w&#160;; 16.5 x 21.5 cm.
context_page_description: Known as “The Garden of Wales”, Carmarthenshire is a county of rich, fertile farmland and productive seas and estuaries, that give the county a range of foods that motivate many home cooks and restaurateurs. There is a local tradition in brewing, milling, gathering shellfish from the coasts and in meat production. Carmarthenshire has been described by The Daily Telegraph as a “worthwhile destination for foodies” with the county having a “modest matter of fact excellence”. Carmarthenshire has ambitions to become the premier food-producing county of Wales, based on its strong reputation for first class products. and Carmarthenshire County Council produces its own on-line and hard-copy recipe book called ‘Taste from Carmarthenshire’, for those interested in learning more about the county’s cuisine.
context_section_description: Carmarthenshire's undulating land is prime dairy and mixed farming country, with lamb and beef both important. In his  pastoral poem called Grongar Hill the poet John Dyer refers to the valley of the river Towy as follows:
  Old castles on the cliffs arise,
  
  Proudly tow’ring in the skies!
  
  Rushing from the woods, the spires
  
  Seem from hence ascending fires!
  
  Half his beams Apollo sheds
  
  On the yellow mountain-heads!
  
  Gilds the fleeces of the flocks:
  
  And glitters on the broken rocks!
  Pressdee notes that a number of farms specialise in beef production from a range of British and Continental breeds, with Welsh Black becoming more popular, as in other Welsh regions, over recent years.
  Several organic farms have made an impact in the county, including Fferm Tyllwyd located at Felingwm Uchaf, producing organic Welsh Black beef steaks.  Welsh Black beef is matured for 21 days at SJ & S Baker, located at Pontyberem. The May Organic Farms at Lampeter offer organic highland beef, Welsh mountain lamb and mutton reared on 100 hectares of conservation land. Welsh Black beef is a speciality of Cig Calon Cymru at Cross Hands, where they have a state-of-the-art butchery linked to their own abattoir and farms. Dewi Roberts of Ffairfach, Llandeilo has his own premium range, which is connected with all the local farmers and draws customers from a wide area, and from internet sales. Another quality supplier is Cambrian Organics of Llandysul. Ystrad Traditional Organics based in Brechfa, produces lamb, hogget, mutton and beef from some of Britain's rarest breeds and was a True Taste of Wales award winner in 2007
  Pigs are part of the mixed farming economy. Traditionally every farm kept a pig as part of the staple diet. During the winter, the main source of meat was cured ham and bacon from pigs raised on the farm. Hams were cured in the large chimneys of farm kitchens, which slowly dried the ham and bacon after it had been salted. This tradition has largely died out, but the remaining producers make hams which are similar to Bayonne, Serrano, or Parma hams. Freshly cured ham is sliced for grilling, older ham is boiled as a York ham, and ham cured for many months is sliced wafer thin, like Parma ham. Carmarthen ham has a similar delicious farmyard flavour. The hocks have the greatest flavour, and need to be boiled a long time to soften the meat. They make a good base for winter stew, or a summer ‘paysanne’ salad. Dry-cured Carmarthen Ham can be found at Carmarthen Market. Five generations of the Rees family have sold ham here  spanning 200 years. and their family were the first commercial producers of dry-cured ham in Britain. Carmarthen Ham is dry salt-cured and then air dried and sold whole boneless, or sliced thinly and vacuum packed. Legend has it that when the Romans settled in Carmarthen they stole the recipe and on their return to Italy called it Parma Ham. The ham is cut in thin wafers and is served like prosciutto or Parma ham, but is saltier. Carmarthen Ham production remains a cottage industry, in order to keep it a premium product. Carmarthen Ham is a particular favourite of the Prince of Wales. The Rees family also produce a short back and streaky bacon. This is dry-cured for one week and hung for a further three weeks. It is recommended that the bacon is blanched before frying to remove any excess salt. The Rees family have more than 80 hams curing at any one time, and it takes nine months to cure  they also have a mail order business and travel to the nearby markets of Brecon, Fishguard, Haverfordwest, Pembroke and Cardigan. 
  Recipes for Carmarthen ham include: ‘Country Ham with Vegetable Stew’, ‘Pancakes stuffed with Carmarthen Ham and Wild Mushrooms with a savoury Custard’, and ‘Salad Paysanne with Carmarthen Ham and Lentils,’ and ‘Carmarthen Ham in Beer’  Carmarthenshire Ham has featured on Rick Stein’s “Food Heroes”  The Welsh chef Dudley recommends pork wrapped in Carmarthenshire ham  At the Royal Welsh Show 2010, Carmarthenshire Ham was included in the new European Protected Food names initiative for Protective Geographical
caption: Pigs at Tyn-y-cwm, Llansawel, by John Thomas (photographer),c 1885, National Library of Wales
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