Slice off a nice big hunk of manuka woodchip smoked leg ham, lay it on a slice of fresh bread and add a dollop of home-made mayonnaise.
That's the best way to eat the popular sandwich meat, according to Kurt Robinson, the butcher behind the ham crowned the nation's best this week.
The traditional-style ham was crafted by Robinson and Noel Marquet, from boutique butchery, Cashmere Cuisine, in Christchurch. Their combined 50 years experience has led to the production of the ham named most tasty and tender in the inaugural 100% New Zealand Ham Competition, beating out 86 contenders for the title of best overall.
"We had no idea of what to expect or who we were coming up against, so we are really chuffed with the results," Robinson says.
The winning piece of meat was kept in brine for a week before being hung up to let excess moisture out. It was naturally double smoked with manuka woodchips from the West Coast, then slowly cooked on a low-temperature for about 10 hours.
