Ardenne Ham is a salt-cured, air-dried ham made in Belgium, in the province of Luxembourg (sic.)
Note that occasionally the product may be a wet-cured ham, but it will be done via a genuine wet-cure, not through injection of the brine.
It may be bone-in or boneless.
It can be smoked (but wood from coniferous trees can’t be used.)
Ardenne Ham obtained legal recognition in Belgium on 4 February 1974, at which time the rules of how it can be made were set down. It must be produced in either Luxembourg province or in Liège and Namur provinces. If made in Liège and Namur provinces, it can only be made in the following cantons of those two provinces: Beauraing, Gedinne, Rochefort, Dinant, Ferrières, Stavelot, Malmédy, Saint-Vith, Louveigné, Spa or Eupen.
The ham had its Belgian legal recognition promoted to European PGI status in 1996. The syndicate administering the PGI status is called “A.S.B.L. Pour l’Usage et la Défense de l’Appellation “Jambon d’Ardenne”, located in Marloie, Belgium.
Cooking Tips
Ardenne Ham needs no cooking. Serve it as it comes, sliced thinly.
You can fry it, if you slice it more thickly.