WHAT’S COOKING: Black and blue pasta (pappardelle with Black Forest ham and blue cheese)

Or we could be really pretentious and call it ‘pappardelle con prosciutto della Foresta Nera e Gorgonzola’. But let’s not.

Slivers of Black Forest ham, lots of Italian blue-veined cheese, and the cutest little mushrooms you ever saw. But that was only the idea of it, after I’d taken a wander around the shop looking for inspiration for that evening’s supper. It’s the palate that ultimately decides whether a recipe works, not the eyes.

There’s ham and there’s ham, right? I’m standing in front of the cold meats fridge at my local Checkers. There’s cooked ham, continental ham. Smoked hickory, chargrilled, and gypsy ham. Jamón Serrano and prosciutto crudo. And Black Forest ham.

Wikipedia tells us, helpfully, that “Black Forest ham (German: Schwarzwälder Schinken) is a variety of dry-cured smoked ham produced in the Black Forest, part of the Baden-Württemberg region of Germany.

“In 1959, Peter Adler from Bonndorf im Schwarzwald pioneered manufacturing and selling Original Black Forest ham by retail and mail order. Since 1997, the term Black Forest ham has been a Protected Geographical Indication in the European Union, which means that any product sold in the EU as Black Forest ham must be traditionally and at least partially manufactured (prepared, processed or produced) within the Black Forest region in Germany. However, this designation is not recognised outside the EU, particularly in Canada and the United States, where commercially produced hams of various types and quality are marketed and sold as Black Forest ham.”

This kind of control over who can call something by what name brings out the rebel in me. It embodies a pinnacle of arrogance best ignored or at least scoffed at. Like the GI now applied to Karoo lamb – its BS. (If the lamb grew up on Karoo veld eating the available leaves, its meat is Karoo lamb. That is the only appellation you need. The meat doesn’t need a sticker to prove itself. So sommer ask the farmer, and there you are.)

But Black Forest ham is so deeply flavourful that I didn’t mind paying more for it than the gypsy or continental ham would have cost me. I suppose it’s that “heavily cold-smoked” dry-curing that gives it its divine flavour. It sure does add a lot of oomph to a pasta sauce.

But I wanted more. Not ham – baby portabellini mushrooms, as it turned out. They just looked so damned cute, I had to have them. And I decided they needed to be cooked whole, so we could see them on our plate even after being tossed with pappardelle. Which I also spotted and was reminded how much I like these broad pasta ribbons, like fettuccine that’s been fattened up.

Next, I headed for the cheese fridges. There are three in my local store, but that doesn’t mean the range is exhaustive – I’m holding out for Pont-l’Évêque, the stinkiest of cheeses and also my favourite. Don’t fear it – it’s divine on the palate.