Below is an article that John Wilkinson shared with the list in 2006. I would add to this that REAL St. Mary's County Stuffed Ham starts with a corned ham. I'm not sure what "sweet boiled ham" is. They can call is Southern Maryland ham all they want, but the original and the real name should be St. Mary's County Stuffed Ham. Linda Reno STUFFED HAM WITH A KICK By MARY Z. GRAY; MARY Z. GRAY, A WRITER WHO LIVES IN MARYLAND, IS THE AUTHOR OF A BOOK OF HUMOROUS ESSAYS TO BE PUBLISHED BY ATHENEUM. Published: December 5, 1982 Its not true, as some tasteless cynics say, that it takes at least a 12th-generation southern Marylander to love southern Maryland stuffed ham. Occasionally one hears of a newcomer - a visitor, even - whose sensitive palate quivers with delight at the first piquant bite. Piquant, in the sense of being pleasantly disturbing. Few foods can match the aromatic mixture of sweet boiled ham redolent with cabbage, kale and onions, laced with mustard seed, celery seed, crushed hot red pepper, black pepper and salt. When spiced with a heavy hand, southern Maryland stuffed ham can curl the tongue and open the sinuses even before it reaches the lips. Some restaurants tone down the seasoning, but it is never bland. For those who can take it, the dish is especially savored because it is available only in southern Maryland, that remote point of the jigsaw puzzle formed by the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers and Chesapeake Bay. St. Mary's County, the real home of the ham, is about 50 miles south of Washington, on State Route 5. The Ark and the Dove brought the first settlers to Maryland in 1634, landing at St. Mary's City, near the tip of the peninsula, and there is convincing evidence that they brought the recipe for stuffed ham from England. Many residents of the county are direct descendants of the original settlers and have kept the recipe ''in the family'' ever since. There are many recipes, each with minor variations. Some call for ''field cress'' to be added, and the amounts of spices vary according to tolerance for such high seasonings. But basically, cabbage, kale, onions, spices and seasonings are chopped and mixed, then stuffed ''with the thumb'' into deep slits slashed in a whole, corned ham. (That's corned ham, not canned.) These 10 or so slits, or pockets, must be cut vertically, and on a 45-degree angle, each stuffed to the depth of the ham. Any remaining vegetable and spice mixture is then packed around the ham, and the whole package placed in a cloth bag. (Many recipes call for an old pillowcase, sewed or tightly tied.) The bag is covered with water and set to simmering for four hours or more, 20 minutes to the pound. When done, it must cool in the ''likker,'' or juice, for at least two hours. Then the bag is removed and the excess stuffing repacked tightly around the ham, which goes into the refrigerator overnight, to soak up the strong flavors of the stuffing even more. Total preparation time: close to 16 hours. If you corn the ham yourself, add a few months. The time factor alone could explain why the dish has never achieved the universal popularity of the Maryland oyster, which can simply be lifted from the shell and allowed to slide down the throat. The ham is traditionally served cold, and often in a sandwich, although in some homes and restaurants it is offered as a hot, main course. ''It's a meal in itself,'' says Cuthbert Fenwick 3d, who serves some of the best southern Maryland stuffed ham in St. Mary's County at The Willows, a mile south of Leonardtown on Route 5. The Willows is a small, family restaurant with but 10 tables, two booths and a partitioned bar in the back. The 28-year-old Mr. Fenwick, who was born and raised in the county, bought the restaurant a few months ago from Irene Holdson, who ran it for 11 years and who searched the area for an expert in preparing stuffed ham, knowing instinctively that it took a native to do it right. (Mrs. Holdson is from ''Ballmer,'' or Baltimore, so does not qualify.) She found her expert, Helen Schreiber from Mechanicsville, about 15 miles up the road, six years ago, and Mrs. Schreiber has been preparing the dish for the restaurant ever since. She is now ''Chip'' Fenwick's head cook. Mrs. Schreiber learned the technique and the recipe from her mother, who ''used to go around to people's houses to prepare their hams.'' Mrs. Schreiber's mother had learned from her mother, and back through the generations, all southern Marylanders. At The Willows, simply boning a ham and stuffing the cavity is considered the lazy and the wrong way of doing the job. ''To get the full flavor through the ham you have to cut the pockets and stuff each one,'' says Mrs. Holdson. Another taboo: preparing the ham before the first frost. ''The stuffing sours too easily to keep it around in warm weather.'' There are rumors that the dish appears on some Kentucky tables at Easter, a phenomenon explainable by the fact that a few early Maryland settlers went to Kentucky in the late 1700's. Otherwise, it remains in St. Mary's County. Oh, it has traveled a bit for special occasions - a White House dinner during the Eisenhower Administration, a British Embassy banquet honoring the late Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Governor's Mansion, and the Maryland Pavilion of the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, where 28,000 orders were served. There are numerous stories about the origin of the dish. One says it originated in the county in the early 18th century when a slave at St. Inigoes Manor House dished it up as a special Easter treat for the Jesuit Fathers emerging from their Lenten fast. The most credible stories, however, trace the recipe back to 16th century England. A personal note on George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, recorded in English archives of 1599, mentions that as a boy he partook of stuffed ham while at the ''ancient family estate'' on the Yorkshire coast. It was the Calverts, of course, who founded Maryland. ''Stuffed Chine,'' a familiar recipe in Elizabethan England, called for a ''Bradenham gammon (ham) ... cut to the bone with slots and a mixture of herbs and lots of parsley pressed in, tied in muslin and boiled.'' Although there seem to be no traditional vegetables or condiments served with the ham, beaten biscuits are often put on the table when it is prepared in homes in the county. These biscuits, which resemble small cannonballs, and are almost as hard on the outside, are beaten (with an axe, says one old recipe) for no less than 20 minutes before baking. Restaurants do not feature them. The Willows charges $2.50 for a stuffed ham sandwich, while the ham plate is $7.95 with vegetables and salad, plus individual loaves of homemade bread and coffee. The ham is served only in winter. The restaurant also serves a seafood imperial dinner, with shrimp lobster and crab, for $8.75. (The Willows is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 A.M. to 11 P.M and on Monday from 11 to 3; in summer it opens on Sunday, 1 to 9. The few other St. Mary's County restaurants - there are not many down there -that also serve authentic stuffed ham include the St. Mary's Landing on Route 5 in Charlotte Hall, and the Belvedere Motor Inn on State Route 235 in Lexington Park. At the St. Mary's Landing, the ham sandwich costs $2; and the ham with a vegetable, salad and bread is $3.50. A stuffed ham dinner costs $6.95. The Belvedere lunch menu offers ham on a roll, with coleslaw and french fries, for $2.65. On the dinner menu it is a cold platter for $9.25, including an appetizer, salad, choice of potato, three vegetables and rolls. Both places are able to serve the ham the year round because of their large cold-storage spaces. John S Wilkinson, Rome, New York From: "John S Wilkinson" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, November 09, 2006 9:22 AM -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of David Cummins Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 6:39 PM To: SMC Maryland Subject: [MDSTMARY] Help I receive a newsletter about the area around Prescott, AR. The owner, about every five years, does a cook book and I want to influence that part of the world with stuffed ham, SMC style. So, while I have several stuffed ham receipts stowed away, a recent reorganization of my files makes it a bit difficult to bring them up to forward, without a struggle. So, if any of you guys have stuffed ham data that is easy to get at, I would much appreciate receiving them. Origin, names and any history would also be appreciated and will be sent along to Arkansas. R/ DEC405 ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I am not an expert on stuffed Ham but the term " Stuffed Chine " does not refer to a ham. The "chine" is the backbone, in KY & Southern MO, it was usually roasted with cabbage. The chine was eaten on the 2nd or 3rd day of " Hawg Killen " after the 1st frost in the fall. It was part of hog that was not salt cured but eaten fresh. We did not have refrigeration so hams & shoulders were put into brine then either taken out & "sugar" cured or left in the brine until pickled. Jowls & sidemeat were salted and smoked (Bacon). The ears & snout were made into "head cheese" (souse).The tongue & feet were pickled & canned.The fat was rendered into lard & the rest ground into sausage & smoke cured. The liver, sweetbreads & other internal organs were cooked down in " Hog killing " stew & canned in mason jars. My grandmother did not like chitterlings so those & the lights were given to others who came to help with the killing. We were kept home from school for three days to"help" with the hog killing. Dave ----- Original Message ----- From: "Linda Reno" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 11:29 PM Subject: Re: [MDSTMARY] Help > Below is an article that John Wilkinson shared with the list in 2006. I > would add to this that REAL St. Mary's County Stuffed Ham starts with a > corned ham. I'm not sure what "sweet boiled ham" is. They can call is > Southern Maryland ham all they want, but the original and the real name > should be St. Mary's County Stuffed Ham. > > Linda Reno > > STUFFED HAM WITH A KICK > > > By MARY Z. GRAY; MARY Z. GRAY, A WRITER WHO LIVES IN MARYLAND, IS THE > AUTHOR > OF A BOOK OF HUMOROUS ESSAYS TO BE PUBLISHED BY ATHENEUM. Published: > December 5, 1982 > > Its not true, as some tasteless cynics say, that it takes at least a > 12th-generation southern Marylander to love southern Maryland stuffed ham. > Occasionally one hears of a newcomer - a visitor, even - whose sensitive > palate quivers with delight at the first piquant bite. Piquant, in the > sense > of being pleasantly disturbing. > > Few foods can match the aromatic mixture of sweet boiled ham redolent with > cabbage, kale and onions, laced with mustard seed, celery seed, crushed > hot > red pepper, black pepper and salt. When spiced with a heavy hand, southern > Maryland stuffed ham can curl the tongue and open the sinuses even before > it > reaches the lips. Some restaurants tone down the seasoning, but it is > never > bland. > > For those who can take it, the dish is especially savored because it is > available only in southern Maryland, that remote point of the jigsaw > puzzle > formed by the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers and Chesapeake Bay. St. Mary's > County, the real home of the ham, is about 50 miles south of Washington, > on > State Route 5. > > The Ark and the Dove brought the first settlers to Maryland in 1634, > landing > at St. Mary's City, near the tip of the peninsula, and there is convincing > evidence that they brought the recipe for stuffed ham from England. Many > residents of the county are direct descendants of the original settlers > and > have kept the recipe ''in the family'' ever since. > > There are many recipes, each with minor variations. Some call for ''field > cress'' to be added, and the amounts of spices vary according to tolerance > for such high seasonings. But basically, cabbage, kale, onions, spices and > seasonings are chopped and mixed, then stuffed ''with the thumb'' into > deep > slits slashed in a whole, corned ham. (That's corned ham, not canned.) > > These 10 or so slits, or pockets, must be cut vertically, and on a > 45-degree > angle, each stuffed to the depth of the ham. Any remaining vegetable and > spice mixture is then packed around the ham, and the whole package placed > in > a cloth bag. (Many recipes call for an old pillowcase, sewed or tightly > tied.) The bag is covered with water and set to simmering for four hours > or > more, 20 minutes to the pound. > > When done, it must cool in the ''likker,'' or juice, for at least two > hours. > Then the bag is removed and the excess stuffing repacked tightly around > the > ham, which goes into the refrigerator overnight, to soak up the strong > flavors of the stuffing even more. Total preparation time: close to 16 > hours. If you corn the ham yourself, add a few months. The time factor > alone > could explain why the dish has never achieved the universal popularity of > the Maryland oyster, which can simply be lifted from the shell and allowed > to slide down the throat. > > The ham is traditionally served cold, and often in a sandwich, although in > some homes and restaurants it is offered as a hot, main course. > > ''It's a meal in itself,'' says Cuthbert Fenwick 3d, who serves some of > the > best southern Maryland stuffed ham in St. Mary's County at The Willows, a > mile south of Leonardtown on Route 5. The Willows is a small, family > restaurant with but 10 tables, two booths and a partitioned bar in the > back. > > The 28-year-old Mr. Fenwick, who was born and raised in the county, bought > the restaurant a few months ago from Irene Holdson, who ran it for 11 > years > and who searched the area for an expert in preparing stuffed ham, knowing > instinctively that it took a native to do it right. (Mrs. Holdson is from > ''Ballmer,'' or Baltimore, so does not qualify.) She found her expert, > Helen > Schreiber from Mechanicsville, about 15 miles up the road, six years ago, > and Mrs. Schreiber has been preparing the dish for the restaurant ever > since. She is now ''Chip'' Fenwick's head cook. > > Mrs. Schreiber learned the technique and the recipe from her mother, who > ''used to go around to people's houses to prepare their hams.'' Mrs. > Schreiber's mother had learned from her mother, and back through the > generations, all southern Marylanders. > > At The Willows, simply boning a ham and stuffing the cavity is considered > the lazy and the wrong way of doing the job. ''To get the full flavor > through the ham you have to cut the pockets and stuff each one,'' says > Mrs. > Holdson. Another taboo: preparing the ham before the first frost. ''The > stuffing sours too easily to keep it around in warm weather.'' > > There are rumors that the dish appears on some Kentucky tables at Easter, > a > phenomenon explainable by the fact that a few early Maryland settlers went > to Kentucky in the late 1700's. Otherwise, it remains in St. Mary's > County. > Oh, it has traveled a bit for special occasions - a White House dinner > during the Eisenhower Administration, a British Embassy banquet honoring > the > late Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Governor's Mansion, and the Maryland > Pavilion of the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, where 28,000 orders were > served. > > There are numerous stories about the origin of the dish. One says it > originated in the county in the early 18th century when a slave at St. > Inigoes Manor House dished it up as a special Easter treat for the Jesuit > Fathers emerging from their Lenten fast. > > The most credible stories, however, trace the recipe back to 16th century > England. A personal note on George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, > recorded in English archives of 1599, mentions that as a boy he partook of > stuffed ham while at the ''ancient family estate'' on the Yorkshire coast. > It was the Calverts, of course, who founded Maryland. ''Stuffed Chine,'' a > familiar recipe in Elizabethan England, called for a ''Bradenham gammon > (ham) ... cut to the bone with slots and a mixture of herbs and lots of > parsley pressed in, tied in muslin and boiled.'' > > Although there seem to be no traditional vegetables or condiments served > with the ham, beaten biscuits are often put on the table when it is > prepared > in homes in the county. These biscuits, which resemble small cannonballs, > and are almost as hard on the outside, are beaten (with an axe, says one > old > recipe) for no less than 20 minutes before baking. Restaurants do not > feature them. > > The Willows charges $2.50 for a stuffed ham sandwich, while the ham plate > is > $7.95 with vegetables and salad, plus individual loaves of homemade bread > and coffee. The ham is served only in winter. The restaurant also serves a > seafood imperial dinner, with shrimp lobster and crab, for $8.75. (The > Willows is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 A.M. to 11 P.M and on > Monday from 11 to 3; in summer it opens on Sunday, 1 to 9. > > The few other St. Mary's County restaurants - there are not many down > there > -that also serve authentic stuffed ham include the St. Mary's Landing on > Route 5 in Charlotte Hall, and the Belvedere Motor Inn on State Route 235 > in > Lexington Park. At the St. Mary's Landing, the ham sandwich costs $2; and > the ham with a vegetable, salad and bread is $3.50. A stuffed ham dinner > costs $6.95. The Belvedere lunch menu offers ham on a roll, with coleslaw > and french fries, for $2.65. On the dinner menu it is a cold platter for > $9.25, including an appetizer, salad, choice of potato, three vegetables > and > rolls. Both places are able to serve the ham the year round because of > their > large cold-storage spaces. > > John S Wilkinson, Rome, New York > > From: "John S Wilkinson" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, November 09, 2006 9:22 AM > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of David Cummins > Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 6:39 PM > To: SMC Maryland > Subject: [MDSTMARY] Help > > > I receive a newsletter about the area around Prescott, AR. > > The owner, about every five years, does a cook book and > I want to influence that part of the world with stuffed ham, > SMC style. > > So, while I have several stuffed ham receipts stowed away, > a recent reorganization of my files makes it a bit difficult to > bring them up to forward, without a struggle. > > So, if any of you guys have stuffed ham data that is easy to > get at, I would much appreciate receiving them. Origin, > names and any history would also be appreciated and will > be sent along to Arkansas. > > > R/ DEC405 > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message