should have a thin rind, and the fat should be firm, and tinged red by
the curing; the flesh should be of a clear red, without intermixture
of yellow, and it should firmly adhere to the bone. To judge the state
of a ham, plunge a knife into it to the bone; on drawing it back, if
particles of meat adhere to it, or if the smell is disagreeable, the
curing has not been effectual, and the ham is not good; it should, in
such a state, be immediately cooked. In buying a ham, a short thick
one is to be preferred to one long and thin. Of English hams,
Yorkshire, Westmoreland, and Hampshire are most esteemed; of foreign,
the Westphalian. The bacon and "sugar cured" hams now imported in
large quantities from Canada and the United States are both cheap and
good.