Sold a ham for a million dollars in the United States
The well-known annual state fair of Kentuky in the United States, it has made the news for another year this time for the celebration of its 56th Annual Kentucky Country Ham Breakfast and Auction, an auction that annually brings together business leaders, members of the state’s agricultural community and politicians willing to fork out large amounts of money that will go to charity. Each edition breaks fundraising records with the sale of local products, including many hams, and this year has been no different.
The ham in question that this edition has reached the million dollar figure, It is not an Iberian or acorn-fed ham, but a smoked ham leg, a typical product of the area with a total weight of 7,2 kilos. Its new owner has been the banker Luther Deaton, President and CEO of the Central Bank & Trust Co, who will disburse a whopping 912.050.000 euros (one million dollars).
Deaton stated in statements to local media that the benefits of the bid will go to the University of Kentucky Healthcare, St. Elizabeth Healthcare Cancer Research, The Markey Cancer Center, UK Athletics and Transylvania University.
It is not the first time that a ham auctioned at this fair breaks records, since in the previous edition the figure exceeded double the price of this year and was also the same Luther Deaton who, determined to get one more year with the ham, joined forces together with one of his competitors in the auction and between them they broke the record reaching the price of 2,8 million.
$ 15.000 per slice
The ham, salted, smoked and cured for 4 to 6 months, undergoes a rigorous selection process to become one of the auctioned ones. In the process, different key aspects of all the hams that participate are evaluated: symmetry, shape, color and aroma.
Blake Penn, director of Penn’s Hams, a company that produces these hams, declared in an interview with Atlas Obscura: “Each slice would be worth something like $ 15.000”. Penn’s Hams is an institution in the United States, having been the winner of this tournament in 1984, 1999 and 2019. The hams of this family business are usually sold to the public for U.S. dollar 50.
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Tomorrow the 56th Annual Kentucky Country Ham Breakfast and Auction will take place at the Kentucky State Fair. Here are a few reactions to the price of last year’s Grand Champion Ham.
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