GLAZED CHRISTMAS HAM

Slices of hot ham with baked potatoes and salad are, I would suggest, almost as evocative of Christmas as turkey. My childhood memories are that we always had glazed ham with spiced red cabbage on Christmas Eve, but since I became a fish cook I’ve adopted the continental enthusiasm for fish on that night, preferably turbot served with hollandaise sauce. Ham is now something I look forward to on Boxing Day.

Serves up to 10

● 1 x 2.8kg (6lb 3oz) unsmoked boned and rolled gammon

● 600ml (1pt) cider

● 1½tsp black peppercorns

● 6 cloves

● ½tsp chilli flakes

● 4 bay leaves

For the glaze

● 3tsp English mustard

● 60g (2¼oz) soft brown sugar

● 12-15 cloves

For the gravy

● About 1ltr (1¾pt) strained cooking liquor

● 25g (1oz) unsalted butter

● 1tsp cornflour (optional)

Some gammon can be quite salty. To test it, cut a thin slice from the end of the raw joint and add it to a pan of simmering water. Cook for about 5 minutes, then taste. If it’s too salty, soak the joint in cold water overnight and then drain.

Put the gammon in a large pan or stockpot and add the cider and enough water to cover the meat. Add the peppercorns, cloves, chilli flakes and bay leaves and bring to the boil.

Immediately turn down the heat so that the water is barely simmering and cook for about 1½2 hours or until the internal temperature when tested with a probe in the centre of the meat registers 65°C. Turn off the heat and let the meat cool in the water. Remove the cooled meat but don’t throw the liquor away (you will need some for the gravy).

Preheat the oven to 210°C/fan 190°C/gas 5. Mix the mustard and sugar together in a bowl. Using a

sharp knife, remove any string from the meat and then take off the rind. Score the fat with a knife in a diamond pattern and stud the meat with a clove at each intersection. Set the meat on a wire rack or trivet in a roasting tin and add about 120ml of water to the tin. Then, using the back of a spoon or a brush, spread twothirds of the glaze over the fat.

Transfer to the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then brush with the remaining glaze. Top up the water if necessary and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes until browned. Remove the tin from the oven and allow the ham to cool before carving, or serve hot with gravy. To make the gravy, reduce a litre or so of the strained cooking liquor by half, then whisk in the unsalted butter. You may like to thicken the gravy slightly with a teaspoon of cornflour dissolved in a little cold water.