# Cold, spiral slice ham (honey or otherwise) is an offense to the senses **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-spiral-slice-ham-honey-or-otherwise-is-an-offense-to-the-senses/708310 "2014-12-27T23:30:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-spiral-slice-ham-honey-or-otherwise-is-an-offense-to-the-senses/708310/41 "2014-12-31T06:49:10Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > … Ah, “suburb.” Nicely done. I swear I read over the post about a half-dozen times, but my brain seems to have auto-corrected the word. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-spiral-slice-ham-honey-or-otherwise-is-an-offense-to-the-senses/708310/42 "2014-12-31T16:04:38Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > Well, I’m glad I wasn’t crazy about the whole Smithfield is only country ham thing. The country hams I remember weren’t labeled… they were hanging in the little store my Grandpa took me to in Tennessee when I was a kid. I think the closest to a brand would have been from Charlie’s place over the ridge. I got a Smithfield as a gift a few years ago and didn’t understand the big deal (but it was good) but it was not a country ham. I had heard the name but just thought it was supposed to be a good brand (ignorance fought). > > Country ham is a bit of an acquired taste. Even when soaked for a long time it is very salty but also a very concentrated ham taste. From my family experience, no you wouldn’t glaze it at all… but you would serve it with fried eggs and hash browns all fried in bacon drippings. The ham would be sliced fairly thick but not that big of a slice, and fried a short while to just get it heated. I love it… but my wife from Wisconsin thinks it is vile. > > Oh yeah… also biscuits, you have to have biscuits. They don’t need to be fried in bacon drippings though (although it wouldn’t surprise me if they were somehow). I’m pretty sure bacon drippings was one of the major food groups for my Dad’s family. There is a type of ham, called a Smithfield ham, which has a legal definition, as codified by the Virginia legislature in 1926: > **[Smithfield ham](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithfield_ham)** > > Smithfield ham is a specific form of country ham finish-cured in the town of Smithfield in Isle of Wight County in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, U.S. > The first record of the commercial sale of cured "Smithfield Ham" is a receipt to Ellerston and John Perot on the Dutch Caribbean Island of St Eustatius, dating from 1779. > The Commonwealth of Virginia first regulated usage of the term "Smithfield Ham" in a 1926 Statute passed by its General Assembly stating: > Genuine Smithfield hams \[are t... These hams can be from a number of brands; but there is also a Smithfield Brand and a Smithfield marketplace-they sell the aforementioned Smithfield type if country ham, but also sell regular smoked hams and honey hams. And, yes, between two biscuits, Smithfield ham is my idea of breakfast heaven. More on the subject: > **[Smithfield Ham - AskMen](https://www.askmen.com/fine_living/wine_dine_archive/smithfield-ham-2.html)** > > 5 Things You Didn't Know About Your Christmas Ham ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-spiral-slice-ham-honey-or-otherwise-is-an-offense-to-the-senses/708310/43 "2015-01-01T00:40:27Z")
> [@CGav8r](#): > > There is a type of ham, called a Smithfield ham, which has a legal definition, as codified by the Virginia legislature in 1926: I fail to see how that has anything to do with anyone outside of Virginia. Also, spiral sliced ham is great and the title of this topic is an offense to the truth. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-spiral-slice-ham-honey-or-otherwise-is-an-offense-to-the-senses/708310/44 "2015-01-01T20:47:51Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I fail to see how that has anything to do with anyone outside of Virginia. > > Also, spiral sliced ham is great and the title of this topic is an offense to the truth. Just that there is a difference between a Smithfield ham, and Smithfield brand ham-many folks think they’ve had the former, when they really had the latter, and they could be two very different animals. In my experience the former is the ne plus ultra of country hams, and right up there with European versions of cured ham. Also, the standard codified means something if you are looking for authenticity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-spiral-slice-ham-honey-or-otherwise-is-an-offense-to-the-senses/708310.md?page=2)