Hamming It Up

 

 

 

Walking into Johnston County Hams in Smithfield, NC, there’s a door just to the right behind the counter. I follow one of the workers through the door and down a hallway, past a big industrial-sized fan and into a room that would make any country ham lover feel like they’d died and gone to hog heaven.

 

Hanging from metal racks three high are country hams on top of country hams. This is one of the curing rooms at Johnston County Hams.

 

Rufus Brown is the current cure master for Johnston County Hams, a position his father held before him. Since 1967 the Browns have been responsible for some of the best tasting country hams in the country, getting nods from Esquire, Men’s Health and Southern Living magazines.

 

As someone born and raised in the South, I am all too familiar with the tastes and smells of country ham. For me, the smell brings back fond memories of Christmases past, waking up early and rushing to see what surprises lay buried beneath the tree. (I have to confess, there were a few times when I already knew what was under the tree because I had already snuck out in the middle of the night to see. What do you expect a kid to do when he on Christmas Eve?)

 

After unwrapping everything in sight with a bow on it, we would almost always sit down to a hearty breakfast cooked by my mom. It wasn’t an elaborate meal by any means; just eggs, bacon, homemade biscuits and country ham, enough to fill our bellies and put a smile on our faces. I think it was just my mom’s way of making us all sleepy so we’d crawl back in bed and give my parents a little more sleep time.

 

So it is without fail, whenever I get a whiff of country ham frying in a cast iron pan, I’m transported back to Christmas morning.

 

This past Christmas’ breakfast was just like the rest: eggs, bacon, homemade biscuits and country ham.

 

As the country ham sizzles in the pan, the bells are replaced by smells as I’m transformed into one of  Pavlov’s dogs. But I’m the only one. It’s good to know my dog has a thing for country ham as well. You could tell by the drool pooling on the floor.