Whole ham 1, about 4kg
Mirepoix, a selection of roughly chopped carrots, onions, celery and leek
Faggot of herbs, containing celery, bay leaf and strips of orange peel, bound with strips of leek
Spice bag, containing a few each of fresh ginger pieces, whole cloves and mace blades, and 1 cinnamon stick
Brown bread 300g
Clear honey 150ml
Water 300ml
Butter 50g
Salt
Dijon mustard 50g
Christmas spice mixture 5g (see below)
For the Christmas spice mix
ground nutmeg
ground cinnamon
ground ginger
ground clove
If using a proper dry-cured English ham, soak it for 2 hours before poaching gently in a large, snug pot for 20 minutes per kilo with the mirepoix, the herbs and the spice bag. When the time’s up, remove from the heat and allow to cool for half an hour in the cooking liquor – this will allow the flavours to really penetrate the meat.
Preheat your oven to 160C. Carefully remove the ham to a board and remove the skin. Depending on the breed and quality of the pig, you should have a nice layer of fat. Remove some of this fat, leaving about 1cm.
Meanwhile, for the Christmas spice mix, combine the ingredients to taste. Score the fat left on the meat in a criss-cross fashion and, while it’s moist, season generously with the Christmas spice mix.
Cut the crusts off the brown bread and rip into small pieces. Melt the butter over a medium heat until it begins to brown, add the clear honey and the bread and season with a little salt. Lightly toast until golden and let cool before blending to a fine crumb.
Place the hot ham into a roasting tray with 300ml of water and brush with the mustard, dust with spice mix and coat generously with the honey breadcrumbs before placing in the oven.
Roast for 20 minutes per kilo. When the time is up, remove from the oven and transfer the ham to a clean dish to rest for 30 minutes before thinly slicing with a razor-sharp ham knife. Serve with classic roast garnishes and reserve any leftovers for cold cuts on Boxing Day.
