Jambon de Vendée

Appearance & taste

The whole ham has no bone and a regular, cuboid shape with oval contours. It is light brown outside because it is covered with a spice mixture. When cut, the meat is light reddish with white streaks of fat and resembles raw meat; the spices give the slices a brown edge. At the end of production a whole ham weighs 4.5 to 7.5 kg.

The texture is soft, tender and juicy. The scent combines the fruitiness of the eau-de-vie and the spices the ham is rubbed with, such as cinnamon, pepper, thyme and bay leaf. The salty taste remains subtle, and according to the specification the aromas of protein breakdown and fat oxidation are much weaker than in most raw hams. The ham is sold whole, halved, quartered, in a piece, in slices, cubes or strips.

Production

The meat comes exclusively from fresh, unfrozen legs of pigs with a carcass weight of 80 to 95 kg. No more than 6 days pass between slaughter, cutting and boning. The fresh leg without the shank weighs 8 to 12 kg, has less than 25 mm of fat, firm white fat and pink meat.

The bone is removed by hand using the “os coulé” method, in which the thigh bone is taken out without opening the ham. The ham is then rubbed by hand with coarse, dry sea salt, followed by eau-de-vie of at least 40 % alcohol and a mixture of spices and flavourings consisting of at least 60 % cinnamon, pepper, thyme and bay leaf. It is then wrapped in a cloth so that the alcohol and spices stay on the meat throughout ripening.

The ham is first drained and then pressed between two boards; together these take at least 28 days. This is followed by drying for at least five days. The whole production takes at most 80 days, and there is no smoking. All steps from receiving the fresh legs to dispatch take place in the area. Slicing and packaging take place at no more than 12 °C.

Origin & history

The area comprises the entire Vendée department, in the Loire-Atlantique department the cantons of Nantes, Rezé, Clisson and Machecoul among others, and in the Maine-et-Loire department parts of Cholet as well as Montfaucon-Montigné. It lies on the Atlantic and has an oceanic climate with mild, damp autumn and winter months, on average only 40 days of frost and frequent but light rainfall. On the acidic rock of the Armorican Massif a hilly hedgerow landscape has developed, with livestock farming and many small, isolated farms.

Because pig farming and salt marshes were widespread in the region, cured meat and ham have long been part of the diet in the Vendée. According to the specification, the mild, damp winters made a short production necessary: boning removed the bone as a source of infection and let the salt penetrate to the core, eau-de-vie and spices served to preserve the ham, and pressing between wooden boards sped up the release of juices and shortened drying. Because of its soft texture, the ham was traditionally eaten in thick, grilled slices, which is still common in the area today.

The ham used to be made for home consumption or local markets; the first written descriptions date from the second half of the 19th century. The name “Jambon de Vendée” appeared in the mid-1970s, and in the 1970s and 1980s the ham was widely marketed under this name. In 1982 a definition appeared in the first edition of the “Encyclopédie de la Charcuterie”.