From the "duh" files

[madbaker]

From Epulario, or the Italian Banquet, 1598:

To know if a Gammon of Bacon be good.
If you wil know when a Gammon is good, thrust a knife in the middell of it, and if the knife being pulled out smelleth, it is good: if to the contrary, it is not good.

Comments

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

I don't get it. If it's smelly it's good? If it has no smell it's bad?

From the cooking impaired.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I guess when you put it that way, it isn't so "duh".
My take is that if it smells like meat, it's still good. If it has no smell, it's lost all its juice and flavor. It's been cured so you're not going to get rotting meat smell.