them off clean with a sponge and rub them with oil Then hang them in smoke for two days, and on the third day rub them with a mixture of vinegar and oil Then hang them in the meat house, and neither bats nor worms will touch them — Cato, On Agriculture, 50 BCE Bacon, to dry: Cut the Leg with a piece of the Loin (of a young Hog) then with Saltpeter, in fine Pouder and brown Sugar mix’d together, rub it well daily for 2 or 3 days, after which salt it well; so will it look red: let it lye for 6 or 8 Weeks, then hang it up (in a drying-place) to dry — William Salmon, The Family Dictionary: Or, Household Companion, London, 1710 Nitrate and nitrite can react with other food components to form possible cancercausing nitrosamines This risk now appears to be small (p 125) Nevertheless, residual nitrate and nitrite in cured meats is limited to 200 parts per million (0.02%) in the United States, and is usually well below this limit Sublime Hams The many months that salted meats keep turned out to transform pig flesh into some of the great foods of the world! First among them are the dry-cured hams, which go back at least to classical times The modern versions, which include Italian prosciutto di Parma, Spanish serrano, French Bayonne, and American country hams, may be aged for a year or more Though they can be cooked, dry-cured hams are at their best when eaten in paper-thin raw slices With their vivid, rose-colored translucency, silken texture, and a flavor at once meaty and fruity, they are to fresh pork what long-aged cheeses are to fresh milk: a distillation, an expression of the transforming powers of salt, enzymes, and time The Effects of Salt In addition to protecting hams from spoilage as they mature, salt ...200 parts per million (0 .02%) in the United States, and is usually well below this limit Sublime Hams The many months that salted meats keep turned out to transform pig flesh into some of the great foods of the. .. they are to fresh pork what long-aged cheeses are to fresh milk: a distillation, an expression of the transforming powers of salt, enzymes, and time The Effects of Salt In addition to protecting hams from spoilage as they... Though they can be cooked, dry-cured hams are at their best when eaten in paper-thin raw slices With their vivid, rose-colored translucency, silken texture, and a flavor at once meaty and fruity, they are to fresh pork what long-aged cheeses