Local artisan offer Easter choices

Jessica Olthof, The Chronicle Josh Martin carries to the display case at Belcampo Meat Co. in Larkspur, a shop and restaurant that sells meat from its own farm and slaughterhouse near Mount Shasta. By Tara Duggan

March 24, 2013

Long-cured salami and pastured lamb get all the attention, but if you head to a Bay Area butcher shop or market in search of a traditional Easter ham, you're likely to find one that came out of a field and smokehouse nearby.

More and more often, local meat companies are making their own hams, honoring a more home-style American tradition rather than looking only to European-style specialties.

Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats used to make the occasional ham for sandwiches he sells at farmers' market stands, but most of the pork leg meat, the cut used for ham, would go into instead.

With the opening of his Mission District butcher shop in December, he and his staff now make hams on a regular basis for the deli, and plan to have plenty of boneless roasts for Easter.

"Now we're only making ham with the legs that we have. We can't really make it fast enough," says Farr, who goes through six to 10 whole hogs per week from Northern California farms like Magruder Ranch and River Dog.

Like other local ham producers, including Belcampo Meat Co., Fatted Calf and Fra' Mani, 4505 Meats wet-cures or brines the hams for about 10 days, a different method that's used in, say, a Virginia country ham or Italian , which are dry cured. After brining, the hams - sometimes bone in, sometimes boneless - are smoked.

The Local Butcher Shop in Berkeley sells a smoked ham for everyday slicing, but its holiday hams are prepared using just a brine and a gentle roast. The shop gives its customers a cider glaze to take home for baking.

Charles Thieriot of Llano Seco, an organic ranch outside Chico, sends many of his bone-in pork legs to Prime Smoked Meats in Oakland for curing and .

Unlike large-scale ham producers that use multiple needles to inject brine into the meat, which he says leads to dryness, Thieriot appreciates how the 55-year-old company uses an old-fashioned arterial brining method.

"It pumps the brine through the vascular system, as opposed to the larger-scale injection," explains Thieriot (whose family used to co-own The Chronicle). "This way, when they bake it, it's incredibly juicy and there are no holes to drain it out."

The Ferry Building's Boccalone always has prosciutto cotto on its menu, which means cooked ham - as opposed to the dark red and translucent prosciutto crudo, which is cured and aged.

The cotto is brined with rosemary and bay and a little pepper but not smoked, and the company offers small individual versions for preorder at Easter.

"It's an awesome little football-size ham," says Boccalone Executive Vice President Tatiana Graf, who breakfasts on prosciutto cotto daily. "It's nice and delicate."

Christopher Arentz, head butcher at Belcampo, a Larkspur shop and restaurant (see review, Page G1) that sells meat from its own farm and slaughterhouse near Mount Shasta, likes how the flavor of the cross of Ossabaw and Berkshire breeds comes through in the hams, especially in the light layer of exterior .

"The fat from the Ossabaw is just a really nice, soft, buttery fat," says Arentz. "It doesn't have that plasticky feel that you sometimes get."

Most of all, a good baked ham, along with the leftovers, brings back memories that you can't replicate with high-end mortadella on a restaurant platter.

"Our ham really reminds me of a really nice with white bread and cheddar and mayonnaise," says Farr. "I've probably had dozens of those in the last few months since opening the shop."

Cooking ham for Easter Most ham producers recommend reheating the ham gently, since it is fully cooked. A glaze is always nice, though not absolutely necessary because ham has a lot of natural flavor, plus it often has character from the herbs, spices and smoke during brining and smoking.

Bring the ham to room temperature for at least 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 300°. Place in a roasting pan and cook until a meat thermometer registers an internal temperature of 140° to 145°, about 10-12 minutes per pound.

Let rest at room temperature 20 to 30 minutes before slicing.

Where to find the hams Here's a selection of hams made by local producers using mostly pasture-raised and antibiotic-free meat from Northern California ranches. We tried a selection of hams and found them to range from light and delicately seasoned to the more traditional sweet, salty and fatty variety.

Many meat companies make an everyday ham for slicing in the deli and then make a different version for the holidays, and may offer them boneless or bone-in. It's best to order ahead.

4505 Meats: For Easter, a little extra sugar is added to the exterior. Most are 4- to 5-pound half hams. $11.99 per pound for roasts ($13.99 per pound sliced). 1909 Mission St. (at 15th Street), San Francisco; (415) 525-4239. www.4505meats.com. Open Wednesday- Sunday. Belcampo Meat Co.: Whole hams, generally up to 10 pounds. $15 per pound. 2405 Larkspur Landing Circle, Bldg. 4, Larkspur; (415) 448-5810. www.belcampomeatco.com. Open daily. Boccalone Salumeria: Whole (2 1/2 to 3 pounds) versions of the store's prosciutto cotto. Advance order required. $16 per pound. Ferry Building, San Francisco; (415) 433- 6500. www.boccalone.com. Open daily. Fatted Calf : Three- to 6-pound roasts. $15 per pound. Oxbow Public Market, 644 C First St. (at McKinstry Street), Napa; (707) 256-3684. www.fattedcalf.com. Also 320 Fell St. (at Gough), San Francisco; (415) 400-5614. Open daily. Fra' Mani: Two kinds of pasture-raised hams. $15 per pound. Available at Bay Area Whole Foods Markets and at Bi-Rite Market, 3639 18th St., San Francisco; (415) 241- 9760. www.biritemarket.com. Also 550 Divisadero St. (near Hayes Street), San Francisco; (415) 551-7900. Open daily. Llano Seco: Certified organic and non-organic (because of the brine ingredients) half bone-in hams around 6 pounds. $10.50-$12 per pound. Available at Bay Area Andronico's, Bi-Rite (see above) and Avedano's, 235 Cortland St. (at Elsie Street), San Francisco; (415) 285-6328. www.avedanos.com. Local Butcher Shop: Cured and roasted (rather than smoked) semibone-in hams, with the house-made cider glaze. $15.50 per pound. 1600 Shattuck Ave. (at Cedar Street), Berkeley; (510) 845-6328. www.thelocalbutchershop.com. Open daily. Victorian Farmstead Meat Co.: Applewood-smoked hams come from hogs fed brewery gains from Lagunitas Brewery. $10 per pound. Order ahead. Chop Shop, 1220 Gravenstein Hwy. North, Sebastopol, (707) 332-4605. www.vicfarmmeats.com. Open every afternoon. Also sold at some farmers' markets. -Tara Duggan

Holiday Ham Glaze Makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for 1 ham From The Local Butcher Shop in Berkeley, which provides customers with some of this glaze when they buy holiday hams.

• 2 cups apple juice

• 2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

• 1 small piece of peeled ginger (size of a dime), smashed with the side of a knife

• 1 peeled garlic clove, smashed with the side of a knife

• 1/2 star anise pod

• 1/4 to 1/2 cinnamon stick

• 10 whole black peppercorns

• 5 whole allspice

• 3 juniper berries

• 1 clove

• 1/4 bunch of fresh thyme sprigs • -- Tiny pinch kosher salt

• -- Apple cider vinegar, about 2 tablespoons or to taste

Instructions: Put the apple juice, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, star anise, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, allspice, juniper berries and clove into a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. As the liquid reduces, taste it regularly. If the spices get too strong, strain them out and pour the liquid back into the pot to continue to reduce. Reduce until the liquid slightly coats the back of a spoon - not thick, but not watery-and reduces down to about 1 1/2 cups, about 45 minutes.

Turn the heat off and add the thyme sprigs and salt. Let thyme steep for 15 minutes. Strain the glaze, discarding the solids. Spike with the apple cider vinegar to taste to balance the sweetness with some tang.

Brush the ham lightly with the glaze, then brush again with glaze every half hour during baking.

Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @taraduggan