Glazed ham

Serves 12-20 people

You will need:

1 x 7kg-9kg ham on the bone, rind still on About 40 cloves 500g demerara sugar or light muscovado sugar Juice of half to 1orange

1

Put the ham in a large pot of cold water and put it on a high heat. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and leave to simmer for 5-6 hours, topping up with water if necessary, until the ham is cooked. Alternatively, put the pot in the oven (preheated to 110°C, 225°F, Gas ¼, or the lowest setting) and cook it for the same length of time. You can tell the ham is cooked when a piece of the rind comes away easily from the fat. Also, a skewer inserted into the meat will come out quite easily.

2

Drain the ham and put it in a roasting tin. Preheat the oven to 220°C, 425°F, Gas 7 — or raise the oven temperature if it’s already switched on.

3

Once the ham has cooled just enough to handle it, peel the rind off the meat — don’t cut away any fat — and discard it. Score the fat with a knife in a grid pattern to make squares or diamonds; the score lines should be roughly 2cm apart. Stick a clove into the centre of each square or diamond, pushing it right into the fat with your thumb. Next, put the demerera sugar or the light muscovado sugar, whichever you’re using, into a bowl. Add in just enough of the orange juice to make a fairly dry paste — if it is too wet, it will fall off the meat during cooking. Pack the sugar and juice mix onto the fat, pressing it in with your hands.

4

Put the ham in the preheated oven and cook it for 30-50 minutes, or until the sugar coating is a deep golden colour and caramelised. A few times during the cooking time, take the ham out to baste it (spoon the sugary juices over the meat). When the ham is cooked, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes before carving it. You can also cook the ham in advance to eat cold. Once cooked, it will keep in the fridge, well wrapped, for up to seven days.