"Hooray for festive ham" says Leslie Geddes-Brown in Country Life, Tuesday 25th November 2008

"In Suffolk, Emmett's of Peasenhall has been making Suffolk sweet-cured ham for more than 150 years to a recipe that goes back to the early 19th century. It takes Mark Thomas 10 weeks to cure a ham, which is steeped in Suffolk stout, treacle and raw cane sugar for six weeks (being turned every day), then hotsmoked over oak sawdust for two or three days.

He likes to cook the hams in tinfoil, with four to six oranges underneath, their juice being poured over. Dried prunes and apricots can be added and a few tablespoons of runny honey. When the ham is completely covered with foil, it should be roasted for 20 minutes per pound at 180C/190C.

Mr Thomas also experiments with different cures. This Christmas, there's a spiced ham of ginger, molasses, brown sugar, star anise, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper, as well as a lavender cure, a cider-cured ham and one, Vintage Velvet, with port. There's also a mild cure, which is brined and smoked.

A boiled ham is the perfect answer for a busy hostess, good for breakfast, lunch and supper, versatile, delicious and, above all, easy. Hooray for hams, I say."

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In Go Slow Britain (2008), Alastair Sawday recommends a stop at Emmett's: "Pick up some Black Suffolk ham - dark, sticky, delicious."

"Hamming it up". Matthew Fort explains how he cannot resist Emmett's ham in The Guardian, Saturday 27th January 2007

"What has always impressed me most about Emmett's hams is the balance between the sweetness of the meat and the flavouring of the marinade. The hams have a light, but adequate ruff of fat, and the slices peel away from the thin-bladed ham knife pink as coral and glistening, firm and tender at the same time. Did I buy one? Of course I did."

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Sunday Telegraph's Stella - Unique - 17th September 2006
The Unique section in the Telegraph's Sunday magazine Stella featured Britian's core food specialities. Emmett's Black Suffolk Ham was featured - "rich, sweet and earthy flavour". Click here to view the article.

Rose Prince praises Emmett's vinegar in The Telegraph Online (5th August 2006)
"Sole importer of an amazing Merlot grape vinegar, Monestir del Tallat, made in Spain. Its sweet-sour flavour brings the vegetable flavours in an ice-cold gazpacho to life." Click here to view the article.

Emmett's have been featured in the East Anglian Daily Times County Life section. Click here to see the full article.

Telegraph Weekend - Savvy Shopper 8th July 2006
The Telegraph's Savvy Shopper highlighted the best way to choose ham. Emmett's was one of the featured stores.
"Try the lavendar smoked ham" said Rose Prince.
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Rick Stein's Food Heroes - 25th March 2004
Emmett's was featured on Rick Stein's Food Heroes.
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"Delia Smith's Christmas" book
Emmett's were listed in the first Delia Smith's Christmas book as a supplier of "really good food" that come "personally recommended".

"Why is it, I wonder, that a nation which has such a proud tradition of smoking curing and pickling hams is content to buy the square , water-pumped, bland variety. Even in the famous food halls of Harrods, I was told, this is the number one choice. Thankfully they also have enough discerning customers to stock a large range of traditional cures sold as half or whole hames on the bone. To get the very best flavour from your ham it is important to cook it on the bone - and all the seasons of the year Christmas is the one that can justify the indulgence.

(Emmett's have a) Royal Warrant for his superb hams. His Suffolk hams are first brined, then pickled in a mixture of stout, spices and molasses. They are then smoked over oak chippings and hung up to mature for several weeks. The skins are a rich mahogany colour and the care with which they are produced is certainly evident in their depth of flavour.
It is possible to order ready-cooked hams from many outlets all over the country but for myself there is nothing to touch the wonderful aroma of a ham baking in the oven at Christmas - all part of the ritual and anticipation of the festive season."

When Only The Finest Will Do - The Ham - Financial Times 27th November 2004

"My mission is to make hams sexy," grins Mark Thomas, elbow deep in a barrel of intoxicating sweet cure of Old Growler stout, molasses and raw cane sugar, as he turns his beloved hams in the modest pickling shed behind Emmett's, the gourmet village store he rescued from oblivion. After six weeks steeped in their potent bew, the hams from four local Suffolk farms ("traditional Whites, fit and fat - how I like them") are hot smoked over oak sawdust for three days, emerging wonderfully toffee sticky and the colour of a deep mahogany, much-loved leather armchair (sweet-cured half ham, approx 4kg, £78.32).
At Christmas, Emmett's produces a strictly limited-edition "Vintage Velvet" ham (half ham, approx 4kg, £78.32), with port added to the brew for a magnificent, full bodied flavour. Thomas also imports Spanish produce. Carved-to-order Cecina, air-dried and gently smoked beef produced by Ferju in Castilla Leon, is splendid, a sophisticated alternative to ham, served with pine nuts, Parmesan and a good slug of olive oil.

The 50 Best Festive Food Hampers - The Independent - The Information - 27th Novermber 2004

Rick Stein featured this company on his Food Hereos programme, and the late Queen Mother awarded it the Royal Warrant for its sweet pickled ham. Emmett's is something of an institution, fulfilling the eclectic brief of village shop, haberdashery and ham-curers. Their Sweet Pickled Ham hamper is simple and popular: half an uncooked sweet pickled ham on the bone (approximately 4.25 kilos) and a bottle of Emmett's rioja.