Hams are cut from the rear leg of a pig. The exception to this is picnic ham, which is really not ham at all. These “hams” are cut from the front leg. If a rear leg cut of meat were immediately cooked, it would simply taste like any other pork roast.

Where did ham originally come from?

History. The preserving of pork leg as ham has a long history, with Cato the Elder writing about the "salting of hams" in his De Agri Cultura tome around 160 BC. There are claims that the Chinese were the first people to mention the production of cured ham. Larousse Gastronomique claims an origin from Gaul.

What animal does ham come from?

ham, the rear leg of a hog prepared as food, either fresh or preserved through a curing process that involves salting, smoking, or drying. The two hams constitute about 18–20 percent of the weight of a pork carcass.