Ever since renowned chef Sean Brock opened his Nashville flagship restaurant, Audrey, in 2021, it has been extolled for melding traditional Appalachian cuisine with gourmet inspiration. Take a peek into the restaurant’s upstairs “lab,” devoted to the creative rebirth of what other kitchens might consider waste, and you’ll find jar upon jar of fermenting veggie bits alongside wild onion blossoms being freeze-dried for use as spring garnishes.
But it wasn’t until Audrey’s first brunch menu was being brainstormed last year that chef de cuisine Colin Shane proposed a condiment that melds two already-craveable components into something downright magical: ham cream. (Go ahead, let that soak in for a moment.)
Inspiration came from a meal Shane ate at Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee, for which executive chef Cassidee Dabney bound a dish of peas with ham-accented cream. “There’s never a lack of country ham bits and bark around Audrey, and I thought it would be perfect on potatoes, so we got that recipe and amplified it a bit because of the tools we have in the lab,” Shane says. “The idea made Sean laugh, and that’s when we know he’s pumped.”
Once you wrap your blown mind around the concept, akin to a decidedly non-kosher twist on latkes and sour cream, the alchemy is fairly straightforward. Country ham trimmings are chopped and warmed in heavy cream before the mixture is strained, chilled, and whipped. (Full recipe below.) “Done right, it comes out stark white and the texture of Cool Whip,” says Shane, who admits that guests aren’t always sure what to expect when it arrives at the table atop hashbrowns. “It’s a very cool bit of food, fun and whimsical. There’s lots of flavor, but it’s not heavy.”
Once you’ve made a batch of ham cream, of course, you’ll likely be tempted to spoon it on everything. After a bit of coaxing, Shane offers a suggestion: “If you wanted to further embrace the ham cream’s sweet-and-savory thing, throw it on a slice of apple pie.”
