Glaze your gammon joint with fruit, bay leaves, allspice and cloves then slow-roast and serve in thick slices
Ingredients
- 4-5kg raw smoked ham on the bone (ask your butcher if your ham needs to be soaked before cooking- some are pre-soaked to save you time)
- 2l bottle ginger beer
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 whole allspice berries
- 6 black peppercorns
- 30-40 whole cloves
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 340g jar apricot jam
Method
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If your ham needs soaking, do this the day before cooking. Put it in a large pan (a preserving pan is great for this). Cover the ham with cold water and leave to soak in the fridge for 24 hrs, changing the water twice.
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Pour away the soaking water and rinse the pan. Return the ham to the pan and add the ginger beer, bay leaves, allspice, peppercorns and 6 of the cloves. Top up the liquid with enough water to cover the ham. If the bone sticks out of the liquid, don’t worry – just rotate the ham halfway through cooking. Put over a medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer, then cover with a lid or a piece of foil. Leave to cook for 2½ hrs, topping up with water as it cooks.
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Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. When the ham is cool enough to handle, discard the cooking liquid and pat the ham dry. Use a small, sharp knife to pare the rind away from the ham, leaving a layer of fat attached to the meat. Score the fat in a diamond pattern and stud all over with the remaining cloves. Put the ham in a roasting tin. Mix together the ginger and jam and brush the mixture over the ham. Roast for 1 hr until golden and glistening. Serve hot or cold.