The market · Meat · Northern and Central Europe, Southern Europe, The Americas

Ham hocks

The lower leg of the pig, cured and often smoked — all bone, skin and connective tissue. It flavours split pea soup, red beans, caldo gallego and choucroute.

salty · smoky · gelatinous

What to do with it

Kenji Hara's Sourdough, 100% ryeHam hock would give it depthIbu Sari's Beef rendangHam hock would give it depthAna Etxarri's ChawanmushiHam hock would season itRosa Ibarra's Clarified milk punch, mezcal and pineappleHam hock would soften its edge
Classics built on it
GalicianCaldo gallegoA plain, restoring broth of turnip tops or cabbage, potatoes and white beans, flavoured with a little cured pork.No one here has made it yetAlsatianChoucroute garnieSauerkraut braised in white wine with juniper, then heaped with smoked and salted pork, sausages and boiled potatoes.No one here has made it yetCreole and CajunRed beans and riceRed kidney beans cooked for hours with a ham bone, smoked sausage and the trinity until creamy, over rice.No one here has made it yet

Goes with

split peawhite beancabbagemustard

Knowing it

Where to buy
Butchers, smoked or unsmoked. Soak an unsmoked hock overnight if it's very salty.
Worth knowing
Simmer it whole for hours, then pull the meat off and return it to the pot; the stock it leaves is the point.

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