Westphalian ham

Westphalian ham (German: Westfälischer Schinken) is a ham that was originally produced from acorn-fed pigs raised in the forests of Westphalia, Germany.

[1][2] The resulting meat is dry cured and then smoked over a mixture of beechwood and juniper branches.

[1][3][4][2] The hams are prepared for consumption solely by the process of smoking, which preserves them, and are typically eaten thinly sliced in their preserved state without additional cooking.

[3][4] During his travels in Germany, Thomas Jefferson documented the production of Westphalian ham and aspects of the hogs used to produce it.

[9] In the early 1900s, significant quantities of Westphalian ham were being exported from Germany into the United States.