Curing A Ham

by Helen Gaffney

Fresh pork, because of it was thought to have doubtful keeping qualities in the days before refrigeration, used to be largely ignored by middle-class families. They relied more heavily than we do now on the charms of veal to give them variety. However, no gentleman's table was complete without a great ham with a large paper frill round its bone.

The niceties of curing and dressing hams were known to every good housewife - she had to rub the ham with salt and brown sugar and lay it in an earthen crock with more salt, black treacle, saltpetre (which gives it its lovely pink colour) spices and sometimes ale or cider over 3 to 5 days. It had to be turned and inspected and finally hung up to dry and smoke inside the big kitchen chimney, then stored, wrapped in a cloth, until it was needed. When the time came to cook the ham it had to be soaked for up to a week to relieve it of its preserving salt. Then it had to be cooked, skinned, crumbed, cooled - and at last was ready for slicing.

Although few people cure ham at home today, there are still a number of different cures going strong in this country. Of the more traditional there are York hams, famous all over the world - firm, mild, pink and succulent; Bradenham, black-skinned and deep red in colour, cured in black treacle and full of flavour and Wiltshire which is cured with bacon and is therefore, strictly speaking, gammon. This keeps less well and is milder than other hams.

Of course there was and is more to a pig reared for bacon than a couple of hams and since nowadays even the hams are cut into small joints after curing, it is as well to know what the mysterious names of such cuts as corner gammon and gammon slipper actually mean. Although the names and cuts vary slightly from district to district, it is as well to know which cuts are most suited to different cooking methods.

Frying and grilling ham or gammon

If the slices of uncooked ham or gammon are salted (you will find out by asking the grocer or assistant but nowadays with light commercial cures and brine-injections this is becoming increasingly rare) soak them briefly in cold running water; 15 minutes will be enough.

Dry the slices by patting them with folded kitchen paper and cut off the rinds with kitchen scissors. Nick the edge of the fat here and there to keep it flat. Fry or brush with oil and grill.

A thick rasher of gammon or ham will take about 5 minutes on each side. Take care not to overcook it or it will become dry. Serve with a mustard and cider sauce  or with parsley sauce  and mashed potatoes.

Braising or stewing gammon

Although not strictly suited to braising, gammon joints or pickled pork from the fattest parts of the pig are essential to the long slow process of turning beans or lentils into a creamy and delicious mass. They absorb the fat gradually and lose their stringent dryness of texture.

Soak flank, belly or hock in cold water for a couple of hours before placing in the middle of the pot of beans or lentils, previously soaked, and cover with water.

Complete the flavouring by adding an onion stuck with cloves and a bayleaf or two and cook slowly at 170 ºC / 325 ºF / Gas 3 for several hours.

Boiling gammon or ham joints

All gammon joints should be boiled for at least part of their cooking time.

They will first need soaking, then boiling for 15 minutes per 450g (1 lb) and only then, minus their rind and coated with a lovely rich glaze, are they ready to go into the oven.

As the joints increase in size, so they need fewer minutes in the pot for every 450g (1 lb).

The chart below will help you whatever the size of your joint and these can vary from 450g (1 lb) or so up to 9 kg (20 lb) or even more for a whole gammon:

Once boiled they can, if being eaten cold, be allowed to cool in the liquid which helps to keep the meat moist. If you want a delicious, hot, boiled joint allow it to set in the liquid for at least 10 minutes with the heat turned off before removing, skinning and slicing.

For a glazed joint, remove and skin 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time and place in the oven, covered with a spicy sweet-sharp glaze for the last 30 minutes.

Frying bacon

The best bacon for frying is undoubtedly smoked bacon. Look for the rich russet brown of the rind and a more rosy pink to the meat than in green (unsmoked) bacon.

Choose back or streaky cut thick or thin but always take bacon with fresh-looking white fat - buy not more than a week's supply at once and keep it in a plastic container in the refrigerator.

When you decide to fry the bacon take up the kitchen scissors and cut off the rinds - not the fat which provides the lubrication, just the rinds.

Put a teaspoon or two of oil or a nut of lard in the frying pan, heat it through then put in the bacon rashers and fry fairly briskly, turning once or twice until the fat is an appetising brown.