Ham

Fresh pork, because of its doubtful keeping qualities, in the days before refrigeration used to be largely ignored by middle-class families who relied more heavily than we do now on the charms of veal to give them variety. However, no gentleman’s table was complete without a great ham with a large paper frill round its bone. The niceties of curing and dressing hams were known to every good housewife - she had to rub the ham with salt and brown sugar, and lay it in an earthen crock with more salt, black treacle, saltpetre (which gives it its lovely pink colour) spices and sometimes ale or cider. It had to be turned and inspected and finally hung up to dry and smoke inside the big kitchen chimney, then stored, wrapped in a cloth, until it was needed. When the time came to cook the ham it had to be soaked for up to a week to relieve it of its preserving salt. Then it had to be cooked, skinned, crumbed, cooled, and at last was ready for slicing.