where does gammon come from

Gammon comes from the hind leg of a pig that has been cured (salted, sometimes smoked), similar to ham but usually sold raw and cooked at home.

What gammon actually is

• Gammon is a cut from the pig’s hind leg that has been brined or otherwise cured, often in a similar way to traditional ham.

• In British and Irish usage, the word usually means a cured leg that is sold raw and then boiled or roasted before eating, unlike many hams which are sold ready-to-eat.

How it’s made

• The leg is first separated from the carcass with part of the side, cured in salt (sometimes with nitrates and sugar), and may be lightly smoked to add flavour and help preservation.

• Once cured, it can be sold as a whole joint, steaks, or slices; it must then be cooked, which is why many recipes call for simmering then roasting glazed gammon.

Where the word “gammon” comes from

• The word gammon comes from Middle English gambon “ham”, which itself comes from Old North French gambon and Old French jambon , meaning “ham”.

• Those French words go back to Old French jambe “leg” and Late Latin gamba “leg or hock of an animal”, so the term has always been linked to the idea of an animal’s leg.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.