Hamming it up: Barwon Lamb cures a lamb ham

A succulent pickled leg ham hot-smoked over Australian wood won glowing praise from judges at the Hamster of Lara smallgoods competition in March before the big reveal: it was lamb!

From the 1870s to the 1940s, the Thomson family was synonymous with butchers' shops throughout the Bellarine Peninsula and Geelong. Today, siblings Nigel and Georgie Thomson have resurrected the family paddock-to-plate tradition with their sheep-farming enterprise, Barwon Lamb. While Nigel manages the 1200 first-cross ewes, Georgie oversees on-farm butchering and processing.

Their products grace menus at No. 8 By John Lawson at Crown, Jack & Jill and Tulip in Geelong.

Lamb hams, from $23 a kilogram, are available at Bannockburn Farmers' Market, Felice's Place, Elwood, or online.

Barwon Lamb, 0409 940 295, barwonlamb.com.au.