Recipe

GINGERY HAM

1.5kg unsmoked gammon 500ml alcoholic 2 carrots, roughly chopped ginger beer 2 celery sticks, chopped 330ml can fiery 1 white onion, chopped ginger beer 1 garlic bulb, cut in half 2 tbsp cornflour, crossways mixed to a paste with 1 1 tbsp chilli flakes tbsp red miso paste 1 thumb-sized piece of fresh and cooking liquor ginger, peeled and chopped For the glaze: 2 tbsp fennel seeds 2 each of green and 1 tbsp black peppercorns black cardamom pods 1 bay leaf 5 tbsp maple syrup 1 tbsp salt 2 tbsp English mustard 500ml Belgian wheat beer powder with 2 tbsp syrup from 1 tbsp soft brown sugar preserved ginger 2 tsp unsalted butter Place gammon in large saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to just below boiling point. Simmer for 10 minutes. Drain.

Put back in pan with remaining ingredients, except cornflour, then top with cold water to cover. Put over very low heat and allow to warm up until liquid is just quivering. Simmer very gently for 3 hours. Cool in cooking liquor, then remove and keep liquid.

Half an hour before serving, preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/ Gas 6. Remove skin and score fat in diamond pattern. Place on trivet in roasting tray. Roast for 10 minutes so fat starts to crisp.

To prepare glaze. Remove seeds from cardamom pods and crush to powder. Put in saucepan with rest of glaze ingredients. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally until melted.

Remove ham from oven, turn heat to 180°C/350°F/GAS 4 and lift ham, still on trivet, out of tray.

For gravy, pour 500g of reserved cooking liquor into base of the roasting tray to come halfway up, then stir in cornflour mixture. Put ham on trivet back in the roasting tray. Glaze top liberally and sides lightly, then return to oven for 10 minutes. Remove and glaze every 10 minutes for 30–40 minutes, making sure it doesn’t burn and gravy doesn’t dry out. Rest meat for 15 minutes, then serve.