They say happy pigs are tasty pigs. Good Food’s No.1-ranked ham proves that

The best Christmas ham in Australia comes from a small, ethical butchery in the industrial part of Marrickville, according to a blind taste-test conducted by Good Food.

The eight-person judging panel, made up of restaurant critics, chefs and a butcher, tasted and scored 18 bone-in leg hams from supermarkets and multi-venue butcher shops across NSW and Victoria this week.

Nose-to-tail butcher Feather and Bone – which delivers across Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane – sold the winning ham: a bone-in leg ham from a heritage-breed pig, born and bred in free-range pastures across both states, and smoked just once.

It was a happy pig, allowed to forage, wallow, and grow as nature intended, unlike 95 per cent of all pork produced in Australia. It’s costly, but it pays off: judges found the meat had a deeper, cleaner pork flavour and a silkier, marbled texture – a science-backed result of its diverse diet, increased movement, and lower stress.

Judges found slices to be silky, bordered with thin layers of buttery fat, and striking a delicate balance of smoke and seasoning. It’s “incredible”, says judge Isobel Whelan-Little, culinary director of Sydney’s Ace Hotel. “I would – and will – buy this,” says Good Food’s Callan Boys.

Self-taught butcher Grant Hilliard, who opened Feather and Bone with Laura Dalrymple in 2006, is a pioneer of provenance in Sydney butchery.

He was a trained sommelier, working at two-hatted Bondi restaurant Sean’s, when he became fascinated by the origins of meat. When sourcing wine, Hilliard was taught to consider terroir: the idea that each grape is an expression of place, containing flavours and textures influenced by environmental factors such as sun, soil and wind.

“The idea that might apply to … meat certainly wasn’t commonplace [back then],” he says.

Hilliard, however, saw the parallels. He saw that the way producers bred and raised livestock could change how it tasted, and developed an interest in “the approach, not necessarily the product, because [the product] embodies a whole series of decisions that are made at a production and a genetic level”.

In the case of pork, it can change the positioning of the fat, and increase its nutritional value, with higher concentrations of omega-3 and vitamin E.

Hilliard says selective breeding has led to a “dramatic reduction in the diversity of what we eat”. Large-scale pork production aims to optimise rapid and efficient weight gain.

“Supporting producers working with older breeds of animals … is crucial because they contain qualities which, we think, are important,” he says.

At Feather and Bone that principle extends to poultry, flour and vegetables, sold online and at their two shops in Marrickville and Waverley.

Initially, Hilliard was interested in sourcing produce for Sydney restaurants, but wholesale trade has petered out to less than 20 per cent. Hilliard blames inflation, and acknowledges Feather and Bone’s approach to butchery, which involves buying and processing entire animal carcasses, limits availability of certain cuts.

“[Restaurants] are under so much pressure, especially in Sydney,” he says. “Unfortunately, one of the variables they can control … is what they buy.”

Retail trade has picked up the slack. Where customers were once drawn to Feather and Bone out of concern for animal welfare, now “it’s much more of a nuanced conversation,” Hilliard says.

“There’s an awareness that we have broad environmental challenges, which are … interlinked. So the way we grow our food connects to how we manage our forests. It connects to how we manage our water resources. It connects to just about everything and … the choices we make are crucial.”