Taste Testing – Heritage Foods USA

Last January, Heritage Foods USA supplied sustainable, local delicacies for four of the pre-inaugural dinners in Washington, D.C. organized by famed revolutionary chef and restaurateur Alice Waters. Founded in 2001, Heritage Foods guiding values include promoting genetic diversity, educating consumers about the difference between small family farms and industrial agriculture, working with farmers to bring their foods to market, ensuring traceability of every aspect of the consumer’s food supply, and championing sagacious stewardship of the land where food is raised. In executing this mission, they foster the link between sustainable land use, small-scale food production and preservation of the foods of past generations for future generations.

Why am I writing about this now? Our friend Patrick Martins, co-founder of Heritage Foods, sent us a sample of dry-cured ham via Surry Farms from Edwards of Surry, Virginia. Crafted from pasture fed Berkshire hogs that have been unconfined and raised without antibiotics in fresh air and sunshine, the paper thin slices of sweet and salty goodness reminded me of Spanish Serrano ham or Italian prosciutto, but with a sophisticated richness that was exceptional. Insatiable foodie that I am, I was compelled to gild the lily. I applied a dollop of chèvre from my local farmers’ market and a bit of organic fig preserves to one end of a slice and rolled it up. Et Voila! An amuse-bouche that was both delicious and righteous at the same time!

Do you have any recipe ideas involving pasture-raised dry-cured ham? Leave a comment or post on our Forum, The Parlour, in the Sustainable Home Cooking board!