# Pork is preserved by making it into ham. Why aren't other kinds of meats preserved in that same way? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 3, 2022, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637 "2022-10-03T14:58:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/1 "2022-10-03T14:58:08Z")
I read somewhere that ham was important to ancient Europeans since it allowed them to have protein stores over the winter. Not only is ham tasty, it allows pork to last for months. With those important benefits, why aren’t other kinds of meats treated in the same way to create ham-like products for those meats? Why isn’t there beef ham, sheep ham, goat ham, chicken ham, etc. Those meats can be preserved, but it seems like it’s more done through something like salt (corned beef) or drying (jerky). Why don’t people do the same process as ham to those meats as well? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/2 "2022-10-03T15:01:04Z")
There is, right? > **[Bresaola](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bresaola)** > > Bresaola (/brɪˈzoʊlə/ briz-OH-lə, also UK: /brɛˈsaʊlə/ bress-OW-lə, US: /brɛˈsoʊlə/ bress-OH-lə, Italian: \[breˈzaːola\]) is air-dried, salted beef (but it can also be made of horse, venison and pork) that has been aged two or three months until it becomes hard and turns a dark red, almost purple color. It is made from top (inside) round, and it is lean and tender, with a sweet, musty smell. It originated in Valtellina, a valley in the Alps of northern Italy's Lombardy region. > The word comes from ... I think there are many other examples too. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/3 "2022-10-03T15:03:44Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Those meats can be preserved, but it seems like it’s more done through something like salt (corned beef) But ham is preserved by using salt? Also, ham is made form just one part of the pig, not the whole thing. Even preserved the same way, different parts of different animals are going to have a different taste and texture. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/4 "2022-10-03T15:06:38Z")
Ham is just the name for pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing. So, it is the curing process that preserves the pork. I’m not seeing how this makes it markedly different from the other processes for preserving meat. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/5 "2022-10-03T15:11:56Z")
I guess I’m wondering why there aren’t things like beef roasts processed the same way. Why isn’t there canned “beef hams”? Why isn’t there a beef prosciutto? Ham and prosciutto made from pork is delicious. I’d much rather spend the winter eating that than dry, beef jerky or dried chicken jerky. I’d rather have ham on a long journey ship journey than jerky. It seems like pork has this great way to be preserved that we eat on a regular basis because it’s delicious (e.g. ham sandwiches) that we don’t see in other meats. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/6 "2022-10-03T15:14:41Z")
What is Corned Beef? I thought that was basically the same idea as ham but with beef? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/7 "2022-10-03T15:23:35Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Also, ham is made form just one part of the pig Indeed, it’s made from _the ham_, hence the name. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/8 "2022-10-03T15:24:27Z")
We eat [turkey ham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_ham). given the choice between “ham salad” and “turkey ham salad”, I prefer the turkey product. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/9 "2022-10-03T15:30:21Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think there are many other examples too. There’s pastirma/basturma from the Turkey to Armenia-ish region. > **[Pastirma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastirma)** > > Pastirma or Pasterma, also called pastarma, pastourma, basdirma, or basterma, is a highly seasoned, air-dried cured beef that is found in the cuisines of Turkey, Armenia, Lebanon, the Levant, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Egypt, and Greece, Iraq, and North Macedonia. > Pastırma is mentioned in Mahmud of Kashgar's Diwan Lughat al-Turk and Evliya Çelebi's Seyahatname.\[better source needed\] According to Turkish scholar Biron Kiliç, the term pastirma is derived from the Turkic noun bastırma, which means "pres... ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/10 "2022-10-03T15:34:16Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > it seems like it’s more done through something like salt (corned beef) or drying (jerky). How do you think ham is made? Ham is made by variously salting, drying and/or smoking. All of which are also used for other animal meats. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/11 "2022-10-03T15:36:11Z")
The curing process is basically a sort of extended salting which changes the protein structure of the meat some. It also preserves the meat. Pork is commonly cured, but what makes it “ham” is that it’s a cured back leg. If it’s the belly, it’s pancetta or bacon, if it’s the back, it’s back bacon, if it’s the shoulder, it’s capicola. If it’s cured and dried, but not cooked, it’s prosciutto or jamon iberico. And so forth… the Europeans have been at that for a while. Other meats are cured as well- if you cure a beef brisket, it’s corned beef. If you cure it and then smoke it, you have pastrami. Most sausages are cured in some fashion as well- some are dried, some are smoked, some are dried and smoked, etc… If you cure beef and dry it, you end up with pastirma, bresaola, jerky, biltong, ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/12 "2022-10-03T15:37:03Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Why isn’t there a beef prosciutto? There’s a butcher shop near me that cures their own beef bacon. It’s wonderful stuff, though very rich. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/13 "2022-10-03T16:04:28Z")
Ham can be naturally cured by limiting the amount of salt used and allowing natural bacteria to grow. Following a period of curing it may be further dried, salted, and/or smoked. Smoking not only adds delicious flavor but also prevents insect infestation. Beef doesn’t naturally cure that easily but dry aging is an example of partial curing for flavor. After that it can be dry salted or brined for preservation. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/14 "2022-10-03T16:19:25Z")
In Spain there is cecina: > **[Cecina (meat)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecina_(meat))** > > In Spanish, cecina \[θeˈθina\] is meat that has been salted and dried by means of air, sun or smoke. The word comes from the Latin siccus (dry), via Vulgar Latin (caro) \*siccīna, "dry (meat)". > Cecina is similar to ham and is made by curing cow, horse or rabbit meat. The best known cecina is Cecina de León, which is made of the hind legs of a cow, salted, smoked and air-dried in the provinces of León and Palencia in northwestern Spain, and has PGI status. > The word cecina is also used to name othe... I Swizzerland there is Bündnerfleisch: > **[Bündnerfleisch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BCndnerfleisch)** > > Bündnerfleisch, also known as Bindenfleisch, Grisons Meat or Viande des Grisons, is an air-dried meat that is produced in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. > The main ingredient is beef, taken from the animal’s upper thigh or shoulder, the fat and the sinews being removed. Before drying, the meat is treated with white wine and seasonings such as salt, onion and assorted herbs. The initial curing process, lasting 3–5 weeks, takes place in sealed containers stored at a temperature close to fre... And in the Eastern Mediterranean there is pastirma: > **[Pastirma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastirma)** > > Pastirma or basturma, also called pastarma, pastourma, basdirma, or basterma, is a highly seasoned, air-dried cured beef that is found in the cuisines of Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Egypt, and Greece, Iraq and North Macedonia. > Pastırma is mentioned in Mahmud of Kashgar's Diwan Lughat al-Turk and Evliya Çelebi's Seyahatname.\[better source needed\] According to Turkish scholar Biron Kiliç, the term pastirma is derived from the Turkic noun bastırma, which means "pressing".\[better source n... So I believe your premise is not entirely correct. And there are others, of course. Fancy some pemmican? > **[Pemmican](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemmican)** > > Pemmican (also pemican in older sources) is a mixture of tallow, dried meat, and sometimes dried berries. A calorie-rich food, it can be used as a key component in prepared meals or eaten raw. Historically, it was an important part of indigenous cuisine in certain parts of North America and it is still prepared today. The word comes from the Cree word ᐱᒦᐦᑳᓐ (pimîhkân), which is derived from the word ᐱᒥᕀ (pimî), "fat, grease". The Lakota (or Sioux) word is wasná, originally meaning Pemmican was w... Not to mention all those dried and smoked fishes. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/15 "2022-10-03T16:24:14Z")
Is there a reason that ham seems to have a much greater share of the preserved market than these similarly-prepared meats? If I was a European preparing for winter, I would suspect I would prepare all my meats this way regardless of which animal they came from. Yet ham seems to be the clear winner both for the purpose of long-preservation as well as just eating in general. Some of these other kinds of preserved meats I have barely heard of while ham is readily available just about everywhere. Perhaps in the modern day with modern farm production we can be picky about our meats, but I would think ancient Europeans wouldn’t have that luxury. They’d have to preserve what they had around and wouldn’t necessarily be able to get enough pork to meet their protein needs. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/16 "2022-10-03T16:31:15Z")
I’m not sure if this is done historically, but my daughter brought home smoked turkey a coupld of Thanks Givings ago. We called it ‘Hurkey’ because it tasted like ham. We weren’t fans. If we’d wanted ham we would have had ham. She brought it home from and in-laws dinner as left overs. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/17 "2022-10-03T16:45:06Z")
/Cracks knuckles and gets settled in As a medieval recreationist who dealt mainly in food, let me point out one of the common sources for Roman cooking was De Re Coquinaria - but foods were also mentioned in poems/histories [we won’t get into styles of historical writing, but histories were not simply dry recitation of facts but also tended to be more like scandal articles in the NY Post] From Apicius: To keep meats fresh without salt for any length of time Cover fresh meat with honey, suspend it in a vessel. Use as needed; in winter it will keep but in summer it will last only a few days. Cooked meat may be treated likewise. So obviously they knew about salting meat, and had an alternative that was usable in winter but not summer, it appears to me they salted meats for summer. #### 61 Lucanian Sausage Lucanicae Lucanian sausage or meat pudding are made similar to the above: crush pepper, cumin, savory, rue, parsley, condiment, laurel berries and broth; mix with finely chopped fresh Pork and pound well with broth. To this mixture, being rich, add whole pepper and nuts. When filling casings carefully push the meat through. Hang sausage up to smoke. So obviously they used smoking to preserve certain [probably not all forms] of sausages. - Unfortunately one of the best online resources for ancient, medieval, rennaissance and middle eastern cooking is currently offline [the site owner passed recently and it appears the server had issues today] is [Stefans Florelegium](https://web.archive.org/web/20210410201733/http://www.florilegium.org/index.html) - he kept an online compendium of usenet, email and online posts of a number of groups, including the Ansteorran Cooks List - however [Cariadoc’s MIscellaney](http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/recipe_toc.html) lists the recipe for Lords Salt, for preserving meats. [Unfortunately my copy of Soup for the Qan us currently at our other address so I can’t comment on Chinese/Mongolian preservation methods off the top of my head and I don’t want to mislead people.] ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/18 "2022-10-03T16:48:08Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Some of these other kinds of preserved meats I have barely heard of while ham is readily available just about everywhere. That’s the thing, innit? I mean, ham is ubiquitous in American delis. So that’s what you see, and you think that your perception is how it is. It isn’t. Of course, lots of different cuts from different animals were preserved in different ways. You don’t actually think that people on a 19th century farm in Greece or Hungary chopped off the ham part of the pig, cured it and threw away the rest? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/19 "2022-10-03T17:00:58Z")
To some extent, that depends on where you live and where you are shopping. I can easily buy pastrami, corned beef, bresaola, pancetta ,capicola , prosciutto and a variety of German dried sausages including landjäger and cervelat ( both made from a mixture of beef and pork). On the other hand, I don’t think I ever saw a package of Oscar Meyer type cold cuts until I was an adult - I never buy cold cuts or most sausages at the large, chain supermarkets. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637/20 "2022-10-03T17:16:42Z")
Except for packages of Oscar Mayer bologna I don’t recall much in the way of pre-packaged cold cuts in the 60s. After a while variety packs, salami and thin slices ham were abundant and then just about everything after that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-is-preserved-by-making-it-into-ham-why-arent-other-kinds-of-meats-preserved-in-that-same-way/972637.md?page=2)