Christmas Ham: A Traditional Treat

Organic Ham Makes for a Delicious Turkey Alternative this Christmas

Enjoying a ham joint at Christmas is an old school tradition, the epitome of a Dickensian Christmas with roots right back to ancient pagan rituals. More recently, the likes of Christmas turkey, duck, goose and even beef and lamb have overtaken ham in terms of festive popularity. But there’s something about the combination of a salty, slow cooked organic ham glazed in sweet brown sugar in this classic recipe that we love at Eversfield Organic. And when better to enjoy an organic ham joint than at the most wonderful time of the year?

An Old School Tradition

Why do we eat ham at Christmas? Well, the tradition spans back many centuries, thought to have begun in Germany where a roast ham at Christmas was also known as the Yule Ham. German Pagans hoped to please the God of fertility, harvest and boars (hence the ham) known as Freyr as they served roast ham. There are many Pagan traditions that we still celebrate in the modern festive period, as alongside roast ham Pagans also started the Christmas tree trend.

Although organic turkey steals the spotlight on the contemporary Christmas dinner table, an organic ham can make for a wonderful centrepiece. Perfect for dinner parties, an organic roast ham (or perhaps an organic gammon cooked your way) is sure to impress guests. What’s more, a glazed ham is a relatively low effort dish, cooked in either the oven or slow cooker. Why not add an organic ham or gammon to your online Christmas delivery and enjoy as a Boxing Day treat?

Our Organic Pork

To really make your Christmas ham a show-stopping one, choose our free-range, organic pork. Our organic pigs spend their lives outside, the way it should be. They’re free to roam wherever they like, and forage for their own treats. Their free-range nature is supplemented by an organic feed that sees the pigs gain vital vitamins and minerals they can’t get from foraging. High animal welfare standards are paramount at the family-run farms that rear our organic pigs. Their tails and teeth are left unharmed as they live as naturally and healthily as possible. This also means unnecessary antibiotics are not needed.

Our organic pork is taken from British Landrace cross Duroc pigs, leaving organic meat that is lean with defined contrast in the joints. This allows us to create our wide range of pork cuts, from organic bacon to roasting joints. All our organic pork is hand finished by skilled butchers, cooked with carefully selected cures and cut with traditional methods.

As well as our Traditional Ham Joint and Honey Roast Ham Joint available all year round, we also have our Traditional Whole Ham and Honey Roast Whole Ham available exclusively for the festive period. Our Traditional Ham is cooked and matured on the bone for a succulent and tender meat. The Honey Roast Ham is marinated and flash roasted with honey to produce a gentle and sweet flavour. Or of course, you could choose our Unsmoked Cured Gammon, perfect for making your own ham at home.

Gammon Recipe

We’ve been back through the Eversfield Organic archive to find our approved gammon recipe for you to try this Christmas. Using our organic grapefruit, we find this ham recipe perfectly combines the bitter-sweetness of the fruit with the cured saltiness of the organic gammon to create a show stopping roasted centrepiece.

You’ll need:

• 2kg Unsmoked Cured Gammon
• 1 Organic Grapefruit
• 2 Organic Bay Leaves
• 1tsp Steenbergs Black Peppercorns
• 2tbsp Brown Sugar

Method:

1. Place the gammon into a large saucepan with a lid, cover the joint with cold water and bring to the boil over a high heat.
2. Drain the water and add fresh cold water (roughly enough to cover the joint again). Add the bay leaves, peppercorns and 2 strips of grapefruit peel to the saucepan.
3. Bring to the boil again, then turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 190°
5. After the 20 minutes are up, drain the gammon (but keep ½ cup of the liquid) and place the joint in a large roasting dish.
6. Add the brown sugar and juice of the grapefruit to the cooking liquid and stir until the sugar dissolves and brush the liquid over the joint evenly.
7. Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes until golden brown all over.
8. Serve sliced and enjoy.