Better Cured Meat Begins On the Hoof at Home

Like Heckett, Putnam had no farming experience. But like many of the new generation of pig farmers, he got religion on a trip to Europe -- in his case, a 2006 visit to the Pick Salami and Szeged Paprika Museum in Hungary. In January, he went on a tour of pig farms throughout Austria and decided to import Mangalitsas to sell for fresh meat and to produce bacon to sell to chefs: "back bacon, shoulder bacon, even jowl bacon."

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The importation, however, did not go smoothly. The pigs were transported in May but were held in quarantine for eight weeks, which racked up tens of thousands of dollars in fees.

The pigs finally arrived in August. The first were slaughtered earlier this month for customers including Thomas Keller's French Laundry, Bouchon and Ad Hoc restaurants in Yountville, Calif. On Nov. 21, French Laundry executive sous-chef Devin Knell sent Putnam a note, now posted to his Web site, saying that the "baby Mangalitsa had fantastic flavor and fat development for being such a young animal, more so than a comparably aged Berkshire."

Established cured-meat producers are testing the waters, too. La Quercia's Eckhouse began producing air-dried hams in 2002. But last year he decided he wanted more control over how the pigs were raised. A local farmer agreed to keep 48 Berkshire hogs and feed them acorns for their last three months. The pigs will be slaughtered this week, and the meat will be cured over the winter. Customers, who will pay $3,285 for one pig, over the next 18 months will receive about 30 pounds of fresh pork and 110 pounds of cured meat. In January, they'll receive guanciale; in February, pancetta; in March, lardo (cured back fat), and so on.

Although he calls his ham Prosciutto Americano, Eckhouse, like Heckett and Putnam, is keen to create a distinctively American cured meat that expresses his product's "terroir," or the unique combination of soil, climate, culture and tradition in his area. Eckhouse's cured meats will have a lower salt content and less moisture than typical Italian prosciutto. The Berkshire hogs he uses also produce a silkier texture, he says, with a creamier fat. "We are deliberately trying to make ourselves different from prosciutto di Parma," he said. "We cut the meat differently. We develop and age it differently. We are trying to show that Iowa is a place where we can make great food.

"It would be great to have an American name," he added. "I'm just afraid it might end up as 'deli meats.' "

At Woodlands Pork, Heckett, too, wants to differentiate his . . . whatever you call it. He is designing labels that illustrate the pork's seasonality. In fall, when the pigs feast on acorns, the label will feature a pig in front of an oak tree in autumn splendor. In winter, when the pigs are fed mostly on barley, the label will depict a pig in front of a bare tree.

And though the products will be similar to European ones -- "we're not going to invent a new sausage; these recipes are thousands of years old," Polcyn said -- the flavors will reflect the breed of pigs, how they were raised and what they ate. "I've already made some soppressata, lardo, dry sausage and lonza," or cured pork loin, Polcyn said. "It came out amazing. I know. I ate it all."