Australian Ham Week, which kicked off on 29 November and will run until 5 December, has held its annual Ham Awards, naming the best traditional bone-in and boneless hams.
The campaign, spearheaded by Australian Pork, is about promoting Australian ham and educating consumers and foodservice professionals that not all hams are made from Australian pork,
Australian Pork Limited marketing manager, Mitch Edwards, said “More than 56 percent of people are unaware that ham can be made using imported pork.
“Australian ham tastes great, is safe, quality assured and supports our local farmers. Australian Ham Week raises awareness that not all hams are equal and helps people find home-grown ham in store."
Edwards encourages chefs and shoppers to look for the pink PorkMark logo in order to ensure their ham is locally sourced.
As part of Ham Week, a number of restaurants are offering specially created dishes, including:
- Chur Burger – Fortitude Valley, Qld, and Surry Hills, NSW
The Pig Mac & Cheese
- One6Eight Restaurant and Bar – Balmain, NSW
Hay smoked ham and buffalo ricotta tortellini with burnt apple and cider jus
- Belle’s Hot Chicken – Fitzroy, Vic, and pop up at Barangaroo, NSW
Arnold’s Almost Green Beans (side dish)
The Australian Ham Awards are a central part of Ham Week celebrations, with judges assessing hams to find the best traditional bone-in, boneless and nationally available hams.
This year’s judges were Fleischmeister Horst Schurger, who has a Master’s degree in Butchering and Smallgoods from the Master College in Monchengladbach, Germany, and chefs Simon Bestley and Paul McDonald. They assessed more than 140 entries against a range of criteria including appearance, texture, aroma and taste.
The Best Australian Ham and Best Traditional Bone-In Ham titles were awarded to Sunshine Meats, Milperra, NSW, while Andrew’s Choice from Laverton North, Victoria, took out the Best Boneless Ham title.
The judges named the IGA Bone In Leg Ham the Best Nationally Available Ham.
AND THE WINNERS ARE…
Overall Winner and Best Australian Ham
Sunshine Meats, Milperra, NSW
Traditional Bone-in Leg Ham
- 1st – Sunshine Meats, Milperra, NSW
- 2nd – Noosa Meat Centre, Noosaville, Qld
- 3rd – Lago Smallgoods, Broadmeadows, Vic
Boneless Ham
- 1st – Andrew’s Choice, Laverton North, Vic
- 2nd – Loveday’s Quality Meats, Burleigh Waters, Qld
- 3rd – Pastoral Ham & Beef, Waterloo, NSW
