Black forest ham (german: schwarzwälder schinken) is a variety of dry-cured smoked ham produced in the black forest region of germany. in 1959, hans adler from bonndorf pioneered manufacturing and selling original black forest ham by retail and mail order. since 1997, the term black forest ham has been a protected geographical indication in the european union, which means that any product sold in the eu as black forest ham must be traditionally and at least partially manufactured (prepared, processed or produced) within the black forest region in germany. however, this designation is not recognized outside the eu, particularly in canada and the united states, where commercially produced h...

Source: Wikipedia