Prep time:

Cooking time: 3 hours 30 minutes

Total time:

Serves: 20

6kg Gammon

2 Peeled Onions

4 Carrots

4 Bay Leaves

2 Star Anise

1tbsp Black Peppercorns

1tbsp Coriander Seeds

Few Sprigs of Parsley

4 Sticks of Celery

150 Cloves

450g Soft Dark Brown Sugar

300ml Thick Runny Honey

1tbsp Dijon Mustard

75g Very finely chopped Onions

2tbsp Malt Vinegar

Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon

Zest and Juice of 1 Orange

220g Redcurrant Jelly

150g Port

1tsp English Mustard

1 Dessert Spoon of Sugar

One thing I advise everyone to do themselves at Christmas is a whole, or half a ham. It’s so easy to do and so much cheaper. You can make it three days before so it’s a very useful holiday food. I like it to have warm with mashed potato for Christmas Eve dinner and then have the leftovers for the days after.

      1. Place the pork in a very large saucepan and cover with cold water. Add the peeled onions, 4 sticks of celery, star anise, carrots, coriander seeds, peppercorns and parsley.
      2. Bring up to the simmer and cook for 3 hours approximately. I allow 20 minutes per 500g. You can tell when the ham is cooked when the rind starts coming off easily.
      3. Remove the ham from the saucepan and allow to rest for one hour. Remove all the rind while the ham is still warm, leaving as much fat on as possible. Score the fat into diamond shapes by cutting long line one way then the other way. Put a clove into each diamond corner.
      4. Mix the brown sugar, honey and Dijon mustard and use a pastry brush to spread the mixture all over the ham.
      5. Bake in a pre-heated oven set at 180°C /Gas mark 4 for 25 minutes approximately or until caramelized. You will need to baste the ham every ten minutes, to get a good colour. Serve hot or cold with Cumberland Sauce.

Cumberland Sauce:

    1. Place all the ingredients into a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for one hour approximately on a low heat until a sticky sauce is thickened and ready to go. Leave the onion in, you do not need to strain the sauce.

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