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Home > France News > The Bayonne Ham Fair: Five Centuries Old – April 13 15, 2006
The Bayonne Ham Fair: Five Centuries Old – April 13-15, 2006
The regional production of the Bayonne ham represents 2000 pig-raisers, 20 curing producers and 50 craftsmen for a production of 1,300,000 hams. The Bayonne Ham Fair (held during Easter week – this year April 13-15, 2006) is considered to be the “high mass” of ham production and an event not to be missed. It is a rendez-vous of the best hams and a festival of pork products and traditional cooked meats, all on display at the Bayonne market place.
It was Louis XI who in 1462 authorized two annual fairs in Bayonne, the first in the spring followed by another in the beginning of August. As the pigs were slaughtered in winter, it was the spring fair which survived.
Naturally, the Bayonne ham must be savored in thin almost transparent slices, but is also delicious fried in a slightly thicker slice and eaten at Basque farms with the local piperade sauce. The typical distinctive flavor of the Bayonne ham is also good seasoning for stuffed meats.The famous “Jambon de Bayonne” (Bayonne ham) owes a great deal of its reputation to the quality of the salt in which it is cured. The legend relates that a wild boar hunted by the lord Gaston Phoebus (XIV century) fell into the saline springs at Salies de Béarn. It was found, perfectly preserved by hunters the following season. They discovered, thus, a top of quality source of salt with all its virtues.
“I have the greatest admiration for the hams of your diocese,” wrote the 18th century poet, Piron to the bishop of Bayonne. This ham which originally was a basic provision for rural people became a highly sought after gourmand item. Rabelais fed Bayonne ham to Grangousier and King Henry IV had it sent to Paris. As for the austere Jansen (founder of the Jansenism religious movement in France) who, after all “enjoyed the pleasures of the table”, he wrote to his Bayonne friend, Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, asking him to send some local hams but hiding them under “one or two worthless books or a copy of a volume written by a Jesuit priest!” A Bayonne ham was thus the centre of a Jansenist controversy. Even the Bayonne novelist, Marie Darrieusecq was undoubtedly inspired for her book Truisme by her childhood memories of the sacred day when the farm pig was killed and by her long acquaintance with Bayonne ham.
The entire profession, from the farmers to the ham producers, fought hard to obtain a IGP label. (Indication geographique protégée) This label identifies the true Bayonne Ham which must meet strict criterion. Only the best pig breeds are selected including of course the most traditional of the region. These are the porcs coureurs basques and are fed only acorns, cereal and corn. The curing must be carried out exclusively with salt from local sources such as Salies (25 miles from Bayonne) and the maturing must last seven months or more. Its success depends on the local climate and the warm southerly wind which adds the final touch. Some producers rub the ham with red pepper powder from Espelette which gives extra flavor and a beautiful color to the final product.
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