Gammon is the hind leg of pork after it has been cured by dry-salting or brining, which may or may not be smoked. Like bacon, it must be cooked before it can be eaten; in that sense gammon is comparable to fresh pork meat, and different from dry-cured ham like prosciutto. The term is mostly used in the United Kingdom and Ireland, while other dialects of English largely make no distinction between gammon and ham. Ham hock, gammon hock, or knuckle, is the back end of the joint, and contains more connective tissue and sinew.