I have never met Uwe in person, but have know him through email and our blogs for a few years now. I also have had the pleasure of snail mail gifts of the strangest Christmas cards and something 'not of this world.' I speak of Pop's magic ham. Uwe... I've always had the feeling that if I met you face to face, you would be sitting on a mountain in the lotus position contemplating the zen of fatback. Then we'd just drink beers. Thanks for sharing a bit of your dad's skills with us. The gesture is much appreciated.
The expectation of the ham is first seeded by email. "The package is on the way." Then come the couple of days of wonder... will it get here today? What if it gets lost in the mail? Holy shit, what if it gets lost and expires before I can partake of it's glory?
But then it shows up...
... with easy to follow instructions.
You see, Pop's doesn't make his ham with the ass-end (not that I don't like the ass-end). He uses the loin. This may seem strange, but the quadrupled trickle-smoked meat is just dry enough and the thin white layer of clean fat hugging the top is just creamy enough for a perfect balance. This is the product of generations of German charcuterie passed down with a kick of Texas 'slap yo momma' added in. It's just good.
I linked Uwe's post on the ham up top, but read more about the smoking process here. Eating a few thin slices revealed a perfectly swirled blend of smoke flavors... where one ends and the other begins is hazy bliss.
This 2010 ham (it's been over 2 years since the last of which I was also lucky enough to receive a chunk of) was definitely worth the wait. I wanted to use it in a dish, but stayed as simple as possible out of respect.
olive oil deep-fried eggs, crab chorizo griddle cakes, Pop's Magic Ham 2010 passed lightly on the grill
I wouldn't normally 'cook' a ham like this, but I discovered that a second or two of heat on each side really pushed the smoke flavor, released some of the ionically-bonded salts, and turned the thin layer of fat into a readily-melting jamboree of lip smackin' juiciness.
The eggs are incredible also. We spend so much time focusing on cooking everything as slowly as possible these days that we forget how nice quick cooking can be. These eggs fry up crispy and lacey in under a minute.
The crab chorizo griddle cakes were for a recent demo at Macy's. We've done quite a few variations of these. Whatever you put into them, use a ton of cilantro and let the batter sit overnight.
