Country ham is the American South's dry-cured ham (Sus scrofa domesticus): a fresh hind leg of pork rubbed heavily with salt — often with a little sugar, black pepper and nitrite — then hung to age for months in unrefrigerated air, sometimes over a hardwood smoke. The result is a firm, deep-red, intensely salty and savoury ham, of which the Smithfield hams of Virginia are the most famous, made across Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and the wider Upland South.