Where to get cured ham?

[dreday3000]

Anyone know where i can pick up a nice leg cured ham?

I'd like to have a nice leg to hang in my kitchen to trim and devour over the course of a couple of weeks/months.

Two main questions:

1) If I get nicer leg, Serrano or otherwise - will I lose freshness if I choose not to refrigerate? I know the curing process is normally done dry but I worry I might loose some freshness if get an expensive cut and leave it out.

2) Where to get one? Went down to Eastern Market and a found a few options but didn't settle on anything yet.

Thanks.

[MilaSoler]

My father used to always buy his at A&H Gourmet and Seafood mart in bethesda...being that he was straight from Barcelona can tell you the quality of their products.

http://www.anhmarket.com/anhaboutus.html

[alkapal]

oh, their charcuterie product line looks tremendous! http://www.anhmarket.com/anhproductsc...

arrowine in arlington has serrano ham, and some other cured meats, but i don't think they have the wide selection shown there at a&h.

[chaofun]

If you want a great Va country ham might I suggest Calhoun's. They have been in the Old Town Farmers market forever and are regarded as one of the best in Va.

[Vespa1]

You should talk a good, local specialty food market or deli and ask them to special order it for you. Most shops get weekly deliveries from their wholesalers so you shouldn't have to wait very long at all. I would recommend you place the order on Monday morning at the latest to get it the same week. I really like the Galloni brand 14 month Prosciutto di Parma and Principe brand Prosciutto di San Danielle.
But what do I know?

[BuckyE]

Garvick's country ham. 5252 Band Hall Hill Rd; Westminster, MD 21158; [phone]

If that is still a good phone number. Call and ask Nevin for one of his country hams.

[hill food]

ask the vendor how they store it . they have a large vested interest in keeping it at top quality.

considering Serrano and others are hung in a leather sack in a cave for years at a time, I doubt there's much you could do wrong by it.