Hamming it up at the Cathedral

A French cathedral that cures a gourmet local ham in a bell tower to finance the overhaul of its organ has won a first fight against heritage officials worried about pork fat dripping onto its medieval stones. 

St Peter’s in the central French town of Saint Flour began drying 30 Auvergne hams two years ago when the town, which owns the contents of the building, could not fund the organ’s upkeep.

The cathedral has beehives on its roof for honey that pays for restoring artworks, so its rector Fr Philippe Boyer saw no problem. At the highest point in this hilly region, the wind-whipped towers seemed ideal for curing hams.

After the project began, regional heritage officials said fat drippings from the salted meat could damage the beams and walls of the tower. The rack of hams could also be an obstacle in case of fire. National officials agreed. 

Debate about the choice meat, so successful that it is served in local gourmet restaurants and even at the Élysée presidential palace in Paris, caught the attention of the politician responsible for national heritage, Culture Minister Rachida Dati. 

She ordered local officials “to examine the modalities” to allow the ham curing to continue. Her statement said Dati supported “all innovative solutions that highlight our regions, their heritage and their gastronomy.”

The cathedral’s money-raising projects have the full support of Bishop Didier Noblot, who told Le Monde: “We find here the fundamentals of the great abbeys that have always worked with the agricultural world.”

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