Why it works: Mutton and sugar work together. They rank in the top 34% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 726 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Mutton Ham, to Cure
Ingredients
Directions
Hang and cure
Hang the meat in cool weather for 2 to 3 days.
Pound the salt, sugar, and saltpetre together until well mixed, then dry the mixture in front of the fire.
Rub the mixture thoroughly into the meat, especially around the knuckle bone.
Repeat the rubbing every morning for 14 days, turning the meat each day.
Press and smoke
After 14 days, dry the meat well and rub the center surface with common salt.
Place the meat under heavy pressure for 3 to 4 days.
Smoke the meat for at least 10 days before using.
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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Mutton + sugartop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together726 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton leg
- Forms the meat that is cured, pressed and smoked into ham.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat as the main curing agent.
- Moist sugar
- Balances the salt with sweetness and adds flavour to the cure.
- Saltpetre
- Helps the meat keep its colour and resist spoilage during long curing.
The step that matters
Rubbing the cure in every day for 14 days. The salt, sugar and saltpetre must penetrate evenly, especially around the thick bone where the cure is slow to reach. Turning the meat daily spreads the mixture and moisture so no area is left under-cured.
“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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