What’s red and green and red and white… and ham all over?
The Foire au Jambon in the colorful Basque port of Bayonne.
A memory of a Bayonne surfaces from a long ago road trip looking for marine goods along the Atlantic coast for my barge, the Julia Hoyt. Rope, cord, and lines I was searching. I drove along the river port of the Adour outside of Bayonne in the very southwest of Southwest France looking for some fishermen, a working boat or chandlery. The newly fitted nose of wooden fishing boat peeked out of an over-sized hanger; I braked for a quick look inside. Yes. Men working with wood and fiber glass, paint and canvas. Ocean going small fishing boats. Sturdy, serious and hard-working. The boats and the men. I knew they would know. I have a nose for these things.
I thanked them for the directions to the Co-op Maritime in St. Jean de Luz, I turned to say au revoir and stopped dead in my foodie tracks. Although the Captain in me was looking for cord, the Cook in me spotted a treasure trove of maturing hams hanging from every square foot of rafter space. A boat yard/charcuterie shed? Welcome to Baiona!
The image remained for years locked in my barge memories until this weekend when I dragged my petite soeur down the long diagonal chemin des vacances to the Basque coast for some ‘fun with ham’. Those crazy Basque jambonneurs know how to throw a fête!
First you need ham. Lots of it! Not your every day made-in-a-factory and way too salty ham… but smooth as salty silk, sweet and nutty, melt in your mouth, slow grown, properly-cured Jambon de Bayonne- a world-recognized mark of terroir. More than 25+ artisan charcutiers and salaisonniers were on hand to fête and share their wares especially the traditional salt rubbed, air cured, slightly piment d’espeletted Jambon de Bayonne. R&D here I come!
I was letting my nose lead me to the people I needed to meet through the ever increasing crowd of young, old and party goers. I stumbled and grabbed first a cornet of ham slices, then a sandwich of epic baquette and thick sliced chorizo, a plastic cup of red wine, then a taloak- a corn cake rolled out with a wine bottle, slapped on a dry griddle and rolled up with nutty Pyrenees cheese slices. The crowd grew louder, Basque songs erupting from crowded bars spilling out from the stone arcades along the quai of the Nive. It was a PARTY. A Ham Party! The dark sky broke open, the drinking set smashed into already packed bars and we ducked into the inviting Au Bon Coin Les Pied de Cochon (the little red trimmed building in the middle below!) where a happy marriage of good pork and fresh seafood, Madiran and Jurançon wines consoled our sodden spirits.
The next morning before the Easter bunny made his rounds, I was back at the fair set up along the Nive. Alone with a convivial group of producers setting up for the last day of ham madness- before the ham mass, the ham dancing and the ham parade. There were lots of slices, shavings and sandwiches to produce. My strategy was to arrive too early, grab some pics, some names, and buy some large pieces of the best ham I could find. I hit pay dirt, ham motherload, pink gold.
I met the man. The Ham Man. Eric Ospital. Son of Louis. Smiling here with his mentor and kitchen godfather- Gabriel Biscay on the left- one of France’s Meilleur Ouvrier de Cuisine ( in other words- a Chef’s Chef) I got the inside scoop of all things ham. It was no surprise that he and two other young elite producers, Christian Montauzer and Eric Mayté, were the second generation continuum who produced the exceptional Ibaïona mark of distinction. “We’re the inner circle, like Romanée Conté… in ham.”
Just these three producers work to a credo established by their fathers. Ibaïona branded hams are only made from pigs grown slowly on quality barley, wheat and corn, achieving a minimum weight of 150-180 kilos, and then cured and air dried in the four winds of the Basque Country for a minimum of 15-20 months. Branded on the rind and draped in a medallion, these fine hams and the fresh pork from the pigs are earmarked for the best restaurants and houses in Europe from the French Presidential Palace to top Parisian restaurants- la crème de la crème de Jambon.
After a coffee and another few slices of ham with Eric, Gabby and Christian, I loaded my basket with samples to bring back to Camont and taste with friends and professionals- a Noix de Montauzer Ibaiona ham, slices of Ospital Ibaiona, and the dried beret saucission of Maison Mayté. The Ham Party in Bayonne might be over for this year, but the Ham Chronicles-at-Camont are surely just beginning…
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