flipVendée Chimney-Cured Ham
Vendée Chimney-Cured Ham
Why this dish? Every Vendée farm salted its pig in autumn and hung the ham by the chimney to last through winter. Rubbed with eau-de-vie and spices, it was the preserved meat of the bocage where Clemenceau grew up. Peasant foresight incarnate.
A ham rubbed with salt, eau-de-vie, and aromatics, long-cured. Sliced thin, almost translucent, to accompany buttered bread or mogettes. Salty, deep, slightly musky from aging.
The Vendée peasant does not count on the state to get through winter — he counts on his pig! At All Saints', we slaughtered the beast, and the ham, rubbed with coarse salt and doused with a splash of eau-de-vie, would hang by the chimney for months. Smoke and time did the rest. When we sliced it in spring, thin as paper, on a slice of salted butter — ah! that was true wealth, earned by one's own foresight.
- •Farm pig ham — a whole leg (base piece)
- •Coarse sea salt — enough to cover (preservation)
- •Eau-de-vie — a glass (antiseptic and flavor)
- •Pepper, thyme, bay leaf, garlic — for rubbing (aromatics)
Vendée Chimney-Cured Ham
A ham rubbed with salt, eau-de-vie, and aromatics, long-cured. Sliced thin, almost translucent, to accompany buttered bread or mogettes. Salty, deep, slightly musky from aging.
Why this dish? Every Vendée farm salted its pig in autumn and hung the ham by the chimney to last through winter. Rubbed with eau-de-vie and spices, it was the preserved meat of the bocage where Clemenceau grew up. Peasant foresight incarnate.
The Vendée peasant does not count on the state to get through winter — he counts on his pig! At All Saints', we slaughtered the beast, and the ham, rubbed with coarse salt and doused with a splash of eau-de-vie, would hang by the chimney for months. Smoke and time did the rest. When we sliced it in spring, thin as paper, on a slice of salted butter — ah! that was true wealth, earned by one's own foresight.
Ingredients (period version)
- Farm pig ham — a whole leg (base piece)
- Coarse sea salt — enough to cover (preservation)
- Eau-de-vie — a glass (antiseptic and flavor)
- Pepper, thyme, bay leaf, garlic — for rubbing (aromatics)
Ingredients
- Slices of dried Vendée ham (bought aged) — 150 g (to enjoy)
- Country bread — 4 slices (support)
- Demi-sel butter — 40 g (signature accompaniment)
- Black pepper from the mill — to taste (finishing)
Method
- Tasting version (home curing takes several months and charcuterie know-how): obtain a good dried Vendée ham from a butcher.
- Take it out 20 minutes before serving to come to room temperature and release its aromas.
- Slice very thinly, almost translucent, against the grain.
- Spread country bread with demi-sel butter.
- Arrange ham slices on the butter, grind some pepper on top. Serve with a bowl of warm mogettes for a true Vendée meal.
How it was made : Salting the pig was a collective autumn ritual throughout rural France. In Vendée, the ham was rubbed with salt, then eau-de-vie and spices, before being dried for several months by the chimney. It was the main protein reserve for winter, managed sparingly.
The contemporary twist : Roll thin slices of ham around sticks of lightly toasted gâche — the sweet-savory alliance of Vendée in an aperitif bite.
Georges Clemenceau · Charactorium
