First published in Lancashire Life, September 2007.

Pigs are omnivores, they eat just about anything from plants to small animals. They have been kept by man for thousands of years, prized for their ability to thrive where other animals starved, and unlike many other farm animals almost the whole of their body is edible. Hams from the legs can be salted and air-dried or smoked, other parts minced to be preserved in patés. Then of course, there is bacon, sausages, salamis, pancetta, or you could eat its liver, trotters, ears, or salt-dry its cheeks eaten as chaps, or the head made into brawn. Even the blood, thickened with oatmeal or barley can be used to make black pudding.

These cured, dried and salted pork products are generally known as charcuterie. Well preserved hams are relatively dry and much denser than the mass produced alternative which is flabby, lightweight and slimy. Often these will have an artificially high water content, have been soaked in brine with a dubious pink colour, and even one slice could be reconstituted from pigs from two or three different countries, none of which will be in the UK, and may come from any part of the pig not just the leg muscle.

Good ham uses meat from a pig that is at least seven months old, so that the flavour has time to mature. Some are so good you can even detect the food the pig has been fed. My favourite is dry cure ham which involves rubbing the pork with salt and saltpetre and sometimes sugar and spice, leaving it for a few weeks, washing and drying it, then hanging it to mature for a month or two. After that it could be smoked or cooked. By contrast, hams produced on a large commercial scale, tend to use pigs that are as young as four months old that are injected with brine, often containing artificial flavours, preservatives and gelling agents to keep the water in and boost the weight.

At Southmire Farm in Lowgill, the Bowland Outdoor Reared Pork company, make high quality pork products from their home-reared pigs in the forest of Bowland. Their product range includes home dried cured hams but I particularly like their Dry Cured Streaky Bacon. These long marbled rashers cured from belly pork, sizzle in the pan and make the most wonderful bacon sandwiches.

Other recommendations include Andrews Continental Delicacies who make delicious chorizos and kabanos using local pork, and the Niche Delicatessen of Lancaster. They are keen supporters of local and regional producers and have some excellent examples of North West charcuterie in their bijou deli in Lower Church Street.

Bowland Outdoor Reared Pork – Lowgill, Tatham

Phone: 01524 263031  Website: www.bowlandpork.co.uk

Available from farmers markets or on line via their website.

Andrews Continental Delicacies - Salford
Phone: 0161 745 8449

Available at Manchester Fine Food Markets.

Niche Delicatessen and Café - Lancaster
Phone: 01524 32333

A wide range of charcuterie at their Lower Church Street deli.