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Various Recipes

To boil a York Ham.* To choose a ham: select one with a smooth thin skin and a neat plump shape, not too long.

Run a skewer down the knuckle by the bone and it should smell sweet and savoury, not strong or rancid; it should not be too hard, but be elastic to the touch. Having selected your ham, saw off the knuckle-bone quite close, soak it for twentyfour hours in cold water, scrape it clean from dirt and slime, and put it on in cold water to boil with plenty of fat in the water; let it simmer steadily for three hours, and allow it to get cold in the water. Take it up, remove the rind, trim the surface of the fat smoothly with a knife; put it on a baking sheet in the oven for a few minutes, then dab it with a clean cloth to absorb the grease. Take a paste-brush and paint it all over with glaze; when thoroughly cold, garnish with chopped aspic jelly. Instead of glazing the ham you can * A ham of 12 to 14 lbs. weight takes six hours to cook. sprinkle raspings all over it. If the ham is to be eaten hot, it must be skinned, put in the oven, covered with buttered paper to get hot through, for about half an hour, then glaze it, and garnish with green peas, or Brussels sprouts, spinach, etc.

To boil an Ox Tongue.

A pickled tongue should be soaked for two or three hours in cold water. Then put it on to boil in cold water with a bunch of savoury herbs. Let it come slowly to the boil, skim it well, and let it boil slowly for about four hours. When done, take it up, plunge it into cold water so that you can skin it easily: this must be done carefully, especially at the tip of the tongue. When skinned, set the tongue with the root end against a board or a wall, stick a dishing-up fork through the root into a board, stick another fork in front of the tip of the tongue, to get it into a good shape so that it will stand well; when quite cold trim off the root and glaze it, put a rouche round the root, garnish with parsley, and serve. If to be eaten hot, it must be wrapped up in buttered paper and made hot in boiling water for a quarter of an hour, then glazed and garnished with tufts of cauliflower or Brussels sprouts, and served with tomato, piquante, or poivrade sauce.