Lauraine Jacobs finds that there are superior-flavoured local hams available for Christmas Day.
Photo Elizabeth Clarkson/styling Kate Arbuthnot
Much of our Christmas food seems to stem from our Anglo-Saxon roots. We serve hot roast dinners, rich Christmas cake and heavy puddings, despite our warm summer weather. For many of us, this is the only time in the year we buy a big ham and a turkey. As I wrote last week, I’m over turkey, as it’s a bland meat that needs plenty of effort to cook and serve, and the result is often disappointing.
But the Christmas ham is another story. A large flavoursome ham, nicely glazed, will feed a lot of people on the big day, then linger in the fridge for a week or two. It can be packed into a chillybin and taken to the bach or crib to be tucked into sandwiches and salads to feed the holiday hordes. Thick slabs of ham, reheated on the barbecue or in the frying pan, will be the breakfast of champions.
After the initial assault on the ham, the best way to store the leftovers is in the fridge in a cloth “ham bag”, or wrapped in a large clean tea towel moistened in water with three tablespoons of vinegar. Rinse and refresh the bag every two days. The ham will keep fresher, but will not transfer hammy aromas to everything else in the fridge.
A few weeks ago, I was invited with other food writers to Nosh, a specialist food retailer in Auckland, to taste and evaluate ham. The chef sliced into a selection of hams bought from various supermarkets, and we read all the labels to check the origin and processing of each ham. There were vast differences in what we tried: some were watery, some were fatty, and some had labels that read “contains imported and local products”. One imported ham said it was 90% ham. What, I wondered, made up the other 10%?
The two locally grown hams we tried – one the Black Rock brand (Nosh’s own), the other from Freedom Farms – were all agreed to have superior flavour and texture to the imported ones. I never buy an imported product if I can eat locally grown and raised food, and luckily fine-quality local hams are widely available. For many years I have ordered my ham from Holly Bacon in Hawke’s Bay, and I’m also aware of the many small butchers and pork companies throughout New Zealand who do an excellent job of growing and marketing pork products. I love the free-range Havoc products and brought some Waitaki pork back from the Food Show in Christchurch. My appreciative mother is still talking about it.
New Zealand pork farmers have taken a hammering in the media in recent times, and the industry is all the better for the inquisition. Regular audits and the SPCA’s Blue Tick endorsement campaign mean much of our locally raised pork can be relied on to be disease-free and to come from animals off “happy farms”. I like to think I am eating ham from an animal that has been raised humanely without crates, cages or pens, and not given feed containing growth hormones, antibiotics or chemicals. This year, check the label before buying your ham.
The sweetest meat is found near the bone, but you can buy a “champagne” ham with the main bone removed, which makes it easier to carve. Or perhaps, if you have a small family, you may decide to have a half-ham. It is still substantial, but it means you won’t have to eat ham at every meal from Christmas until well into the new year. This is my favourite recipe for ham glaze. The second recipe is an easy salad based on an idea from Sydney chef Damien Pignolet’s book Salades. It’s perfect for yet another meal of that ham.
GLAZED HAM
- 4kg cooked half-ham on the bone
- whole cloves for decoration
- 300ml bottle of dark beer or stout ale
- 2 tbsp mustard powder
- 6 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cardamom
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Carefully remove and discard the skin from the ham. The meat needs to have a good coating of fat to keep it moist and full of flavour. To achieve this, push your fingers underneath the skin and gently lift it. If you tug on the skin, the fat will pull away with it. Score the surface of the fat into an even pattern of diamonds and decorate with whole cloves. Place the ham in a large baking dish, then pour over the beer. Cook in the oven for an hour, basting frequently. Meanwhile, mix the mustard, brown sugar and cardamom in a bowl. After the ham has been in the oven for an hour, remove it and turn the oven temperature to 200°C. Spread the mixture evenly over the ham and return it to the hot oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until the glaze has browned evenly. Remove and place on a ham stand. Serve slices with mustard, mustard fruits or a fruity chutney sauce.
HAM and SUMMER VEGETABLE SALAD WITH MUSTARD DRESSING
- 500g small tender green beans
- 1 lebanese cucumber
- 8 baby radishes
- 300g ham, cut into 5cm strips
- 1 tbsp grainy mustard
- 6 small gherkins, finely chopped
- 120ml crème fraîche
- juice of 1 lemon
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2-3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
Blanch the beans in boiling salted water for about 3 minutes until tender but still a little crisp, then refresh in cold water. Pat the beans dry with kitchen paper. Cut the cucumber into thin rounds using a mandolin or sharp knife. Slice the radish into matchsticks. Slice the ham, then cut into thin strips. To make the dressing, mix the mustard and gherkins in a bowl. Add the crème fraîche, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Put the vegetables and ham in a shallow serving bowl, then toss the dressing through. Scatter over the parsley. Serve with fresh bread. Serves 6. Wine match: sauvignon blanc.
Click here for Michael Cooper’s Christmas wines.