CHAP. XXIV.] FARMI^^G FOR LADIES. 495 



In the curing of the hams of Bayonne and 

 Strasbourg, which are so deservedly cele- 

 brated, not only is sugar largely used, but 

 garlic, allspice, cloves, and other spices are 

 also used in different quantities to add to their 

 flavour : nor would English curers do amiss 

 in following the example. Sugar much assists 

 both in preserving the meat and rendering it 

 mellow, as it corrects the pungency which is 

 often occasioned by the too free use of salt, 

 and a slight taste of spice could do no harm. 

 There is indeed, in this country, so strong 

 a prejudice against the use of garlic, that it 

 might not be easily overcome, but there are 

 few condiments which, if delicately employed, 

 will imperceptibly impart such high flavour. 



All this, however, merely applies to the 

 curing of haras ; for as to bacon, the foreign- 

 ers know very little about our English modes, 

 though they in many parts have the very best 

 means of feeding and curing. For instance, 

 in Portugal and Spain the pigs are let to run 

 in droves for one or two seasons in the chest- 

 nut woods, where they thrive in flesh, and are 

 then fattened off on maize, they being then 

 nearly two years old ; but when made into 



