Why it works: Pork and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 37% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,579 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
To Cure Hams, Collaring, &C.
Ingredients
Directions
Cure the ham
Cut off a fine ham from the hind quarter of pork.
Mix saltpetre, coarse sugar, common salt, and sal prunella together.
Rub the mixture well into the ham.
Let the ham sit in the pickle for one month.
Turn the ham daily.
Baste the ham daily.
Smoke and age
Hang the ham in wood smoke in a dry place.
Avoid heat while hanging.
For long storage, hang it in a damp place for one to two months to develop mold.
Soak and boil
Do not soak the ham in water until boiling.
Boil the ham in a copper pot, starting with cold water.
Allow the ham to sit in cold water for four to five hours before boiling.
Skim the pot frequently until it boils.
Boil a large ham for three hours.
Boil a small ham for two hours.
Ensure the ham boils for at least four hours.
Finish and serve
Remove the ham half an hour before serving.
Peel off the skin.
Sprinkle finely sifted raspings over it.
Hold a red-hot fire shovel over the ham before serving.
Sift additional raspings over the dish.
Place the ham in the center.
Make decorative figures around the edge.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Pork + sugartop 37% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,579 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the meat and gives the cured ham its characteristic color.
- Common salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and helps preserve it during curing.
- Coarse sugar
- Balances the saltiness and adds mild sweetness to the cured meat.
The step that matters
Starting the boil in cold water. Putting the ham in cold water and heating it gradually lets heat and salt penetrate evenly, so the interior cooks without the outside toughening. The boil must then continue long enough to cook the ham through.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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