2023-12-12 09:19:57
Introduced into our diet since childhood, star of aperitifs, quick dinners and picnics, ham is part of the daily life of the French who consume on average 3 kg per year. To better understand this slice of our heritage, Raphaëlle Hirsch-Doran investigated its multiple forms.
We thus go behind the scenes of the last Parisian curing and the making of a hand-shaped Paris ham. An exceptional product, favored even by starred chefs, distributed in the most prestigious delicatessens for just over €40 per kilo.
A high price for an otherwise popular product. 80% of consumers buy it in supermarkets, where sliced ham is sold for around €15 per kilo. It is so popular that an entire gondola is often reserved for it. There are lined up dozens of references of perfectly pink slices.
Rose nitrite
Synonymous with freshness in the collective imagination, this pink is in fact obtained thanks to nitrite. This preservative injected into the pork gives the ham its famous color, when it should be gray. It is impossible, in a documentary devoted to ham, to miss this controversial additive because it is potentially carcinogenic.
And although artisanal alternatives for producing charcuterie are emerging, like the responsible operation of Gaëtan Serenne in Loire-Atlantique, they remain marginal and far from being accessible to everyone. So while waiting for them to become widespread, the documentary maker seeks the advice of a dietician to better choose her ham.
Neither alarmist nor moralistic, this program keeps its promises and offers a real overview, balanced and instructive, of a consumer product regularly demonized. Raphaëlle Hirsch-Doran knew how to choose relevant speakers and humanize her subject without falling into complacency towards the agri-food industry.
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