Prague ham: the past and the present

Historical evidence indicates that already the Romans conserved rump on the boneby sea salt, and there are even coins in the shape of raw ham surviving from the daysof the Roman Empire under Emperor Augustus. The penetrationand diffusion of salt into meat has been, and still is, one of the basic flavoring andpreserving techniques for ham on the bone which, when properlytimed, ensures a continued safety of the manufacturing process. At the present time, the effort is to obtain a product with high added value that wouldbe prized primarily for its typical sensory qualities (Monfort 1998). Ham is one of thefirst foods named after the place of origin (Sardinian, Iberian, Arascen, Parma etc.).This is in fact the first glimmer of Protective Designation of Origin (PDO) as we know it today.