History
Captain Mallory Todd of Smithfield, Virginia (about 70 miles east of Richmond) made the first known commercial export of cured Smithfield ham in 1779; Virginia's General Assembly later codified the Smithfield ham name in a 1926 statute restricting it to hams cured, smoked and processed within the town. The dry-cure-and-smoke method of country-curing pork hindquarters became a colonial Virginia trade. The biscuit-and-ham combination appears in early-twentieth-century Virginia cookbooks as the canonical tea-table snack. Sally Bell's Kitchen has sold them in their box lunches since 1924, and Mama J's Kitchen in Jackson Ward keeps them on the menu today.
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Make it at home
Ingredients
- 300g self-raising flour
- 100g cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 200ml cold buttermilk
- 1 tsp salt
- 200g thinly-sliced Smithfield (or other country-cured) ham
- Soft butter for spreading
Method
- Heat oven to 220 C. Rub butter into flour and salt with fingertips until pebbly.
- Pour in buttermilk and stir with a fork until just combined. Turn out and fold gently twice, do not overwork.
- Pat to 2cm thick, cut with a 5cm round cutter. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until risen and golden.
- Split warm, spread with butter, fold in two thin slices of country ham. Serve immediately.
Tip from the editors. Country ham is salty by design. Don't add salt to the biscuit beyond what's in the flour, and skip the mustard.
Where to eat smithfield ham biscuit
Smithfield ham biscuit in Richmond
Sally Bell's Kitchen ★ 4.4
Sally Bell's Kitchen has sold box lunches since 1924, founded by Sarah Cabell Jones and Elizabeth Lee Milton. Broad Street counter is easy to miss.
OrderBox lunch.
Why locals goSally Bell's has sold the same box lunch since 1924, and most visitors miss the unmarked side counter near West Broad. A century of Richmond box-lunch history.
TipCall ahead; the deviled-egg-and-cheese-wafer box is the local-Saturday standard.
Mama J's Kitchen ★ 4.5
Mama J's Sunday brunch in Jackson Ward serves soul food at the family-table volume. Velma Johnson's kitchen pours sweet tea, runs the standard plate.
OrderFried chicken and waffle with sweet tea.
TipSunday morning is the family-dinner crowd; Saturday afternoon is the easier seat.
The Roosevelt ★ 4.6
The Roosevelt in Church Hill opens for Sunday brunch under chef Leah Branch, 2026 James Beard semifinalist. Southern cuisine, biscuits, deep menu.
OrderCountry ham biscuit with gravy.
TipBook the 11 am Sunday slot; the Roosevelt also runs an extended brunch sit-down upstairs.
More cities are in research. Want smithfield ham biscuit covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.