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Braised Ham, with Spinach, Etc
When about to dress a ham, care must be taken to see that it has been well trimmed, and the thigh bone removed; then put it to soak in a large pan filled with cold water; the length of time a ham should remain in soak depends much upon the size and whether it be new or seasoned. The water should be changed often; it is necessary also to scrape off the slimy surface from the ham previously to placing in the water in which it should boil. Let the ham boil for one hour, then take it out, scrape, and wash in cold water; place in a braising pan, with two carrots, as many onions, a head of celery, garnished fagot, two blades of mace, and four cloves, moisten with common broth sufficient to float the ham, then set it on the stove to braise for two hours. To obtain tenderness and sweetness in a well dressed ham, it must never boil, but simmer gently by a slow fire. This rule applies to the braising of all salted or cured meats. When the ham is done take the pan in which it was braised away from the fire and set to cool in the open air, allowing the ham to remain in the braise; by this means it will retain all of its moisture-for when the ham is taken out of the braise as soon as done and put on a dish to keep cool, all its richness exudes from it. After the ham has partially cooled in its braise; take out and trim, placing it in a braising pan with some of its own stock; and about one hour before dinner put in the oven; when warmed through, place the ham on a baking dish in the oven to dry the surface, then glaze it; replace in the oven again three minutes, to dry it, and glaze it again; by that time the ham will have a bright appearance. Put it now on its dish and garnish it with well dressed spinach, placed round the ham in tablespoonfuls, shaped like so many eggs; pour some bright Espagnole sauce round the base, and serve.
A period recipe for a whole bone-in ham, cooked in three stages: a purging boil, a long gentle braise, and a reheat with glaze. The instructions assume a heavily salted, air-dried ham and a cook with a stockpot of brown sauce already on the go.
- Never let it boilThis is the hinge, and the original says so outright. Salt-cured muscle held at a rolling boil contracts and squeezes out moisture, going stringy and dry; keep the liquid at a bare tremble, around 180-185F, for the whole two hours. The same applies to corned beef, salt pork and tongue.
- The soak depends on your hamA dry-cured country ham or an old-style salt ham may need 12-24 hours in cold water with several changes. A modern wet-cured supermarket ham is mild enough that long soaking is generally unnecessary; go straight to the trimming and the hour of preliminary boiling.
- "Garnished fagot"A bundle of herbs tied with string, the same thing as a bouquet garni: parsley stalks, thyme and a bay leaf, sometimes wrapped in a leek leaf or celery rib. It goes in whole and comes out whole.
- "Common broth"Plain unseasoned stock rather than a rich or seasoned one. Unsalted chicken or veal stock works, or simply water; the ham will contribute plenty of salt of its own.
- "Glaze" is not sugarIn professional cookery of this kind a glaze means glace de viande, meat stock reduced to a syrup, brushed on and dried in the oven so it sets to a shine. That is why the recipe alternates brushing with three-minute stints in the oven. A sugar glaze is a different thing and behaves differently.
- Oven for the reheatNo temperature is given. Warming the ham through in its own stock wants a moderate oven, 325-350F; the drying and glazing stage is better hot and brief, 400F or so, watching it, since a reduced stock glaze scorches quickly.
- Cooling in the braiseThe advice is sound and worth following. Letting the ham cool in its liquid lets it reabsorb what it lost, and the same trick keeps poached chicken and salmon moist. It also means the recipe spans two days comfortably.
- EspagnoleThe classic brown sauce: brown roux, brown stock, mirepoix and tomato, simmered and strained. Making it from scratch is a project of several hours, and a good demi-glace can stand in.
- The spinach garnish"Well dressed" means cooked, squeezed very dry, chopped and finished with butter, then shaped between two tablespoons into ovals. Wet spinach will not hold the shape and will thin the sauce.
- YieldThe recipe gives no weight. A trimmed, boned ham of 8-10 lb would serve roughly 15-20 at table, with leftovers. Scale the vegetables and stock to whatever pan will hold the ham with liquid to float it.
The three-stage treatment here, soak, blanch, braise, then glaze, is a hotel and grand-house method, and it exists because hams preserved for keeping rather than for flavour were salted hard, often smoked, and sometimes kept a long time. Soaking and a preliminary boil pulled out the excess salt and the surface film; only then was the meat fit to be cooked properly. The spinach ovals and the ring of Espagnole place the dish in the French service tradition, and the instruction to cool the ham in its own braise is a piece of professional knowledge that survives in kitchens today. What has vanished is the necessity: modern hams arrive already mild, already cooked or nearly so, and the elaborate purging that opens this recipe is now largely a curiosity.