This just in from the The (Va.) Daily Press in Tidewater:
In the beginning, there was ham.
The very first English settlers in Virginia — the original Jamestown colonists — brought pigs with them when they crossed the Atlantic. The first wave in 1607 brought three, historians tell us.
In short order, that trio of oinkers increased to as many as 600 after they were hauled across the river to Hog Island to fend for themselves. “But by the onset of the Starving Time in 1609, all of them had been eaten — some by Indians,” said Jamestown Rediscovery Project Curator Bly Straube.
None of this is news to Sam W. Edwards III. A third-generation Virginia ham producer based in Surry, he’s researched the rich, salty history of ham in Virginia, and will share his knowledge at an event Friday morning in Surry. His talk is titled “The Romance of Virginia Ham: History and Production.”
Edwards’ talk — which will include a short tour of his company’s plant — is being organized by the Peacock-Harper Culinary History Friends Group. The group is an outgrowth of the Peacock-Harper Culinary History Collection, started in 1999 at the Virginia Tech library.
Read the rest of this story here.
Tags: country ham, ham, historical cooking, Jamestown, Peacock Harper Culinary Group, Virginia ham, Virginia Tech
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