ham-msg – 6/11/06
Period ham. Modern sources. Recipes.
NOTE: See also the files: sausages-msg, roast-pork-msg, meat-smoked-msg, mustard-msg, Mustard-Making-art, p-pigs-msg, livestock-msg, pig-to-sausag-art, salt-msg.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 17:09:15 -0800
From: "Crystal A. Isaac" <crystal at pdr-is.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Ham
Christi Redeker (Murkial) wrote:
> Can anyone tell me if ham is period. I don't remember seeing an exact
> reference for it, so I figured I would check with the experts. Anyone?
Yep, ham's medieval. There's a recipe in Apicius for "Pig Newtons." You
take ham, cover it with a paste of figs and honey then cover it with a
pastry crust and bake. It's really good.
I think about any sort of salt or smoke cured meat is medieval. They
were pretty clever about figuring out ways to make meat last over winter
without making people sick.
Crystal of the Westermark
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 23:13:07 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Ham
> Yep, ham's medieval. There's a recipe in Apicius for "Pig Newtons." You
> take ham, cover it with a paste of figs and honey then cover it with a
> pastry crust and bake. It's really good.
>
> I think about any sort of salt or smoke cured meat is medieval. They
> were pretty clever about figuring out ways to make meat last over winter
> without making people sick.
Yes, ham is period, and more or less prehistoric, I suspect. Cato's "De
Re Rustica" (or is it "De Re Agricultura"? I always get Cato and
Columella mixed up) gives a recipe that Jane Grigson has declared almost
identical in its details to relatively modern recipes for York ham,
except for the final rubbing with vinegar and oil. I'm not aware of a
whole lot of medieval recipes for curing and smoking ham, but it clearly
was eaten, and there's really no big reason to assume it was mde
differently than Cato's version, with minor differences in the case
with, say, Spanish hams which appear to have been air dried, like
Prosciutto, after curing, and not smoked.
One thing I did want to point out is that the Apician recipe for ham
baked in dough is a bit different from the description above, and I
assume that the concept of Pig Newtons is an adaptation of the original
for a secondary or tertiary source. The Apician recipe, IIRC, calls for
a smoked ham, like a Smithfield type ham, to be soaked, scoured, etc.,
to desalinate it somewhat. It is then boiled with figs, drained,
skinned, smeared with honey, and wrapped in a dough made of flour and
olive oil. As far as I know from the recipe, the figs are not eaten in
the final dish, and the pastry is probably discarded too.
On the other hand, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was a sauce
for ham calling for a thickening of pastry crumbs. I'd have to check on
that, but it would make sense.
Why do I mention this? Not because I'm a rotter who enjoys pointing out
things like this, but rather because this is a fairly common research
foible that can cause trouble under certain circumstances. To quote
Herod Agrippa in "Claudius the God" (and probably spoken over a plate of
Apician ham) "Trust no one, little marmoset! Trust no one!" To which I
add, especially anyone claiming a recipe is Apician, without providing a
reasonable stab at chapter and verse, and especially don't trust Vehling
; ) !
But dang, Pig Newtons sound good, I have to say...
Adamantius (a bit of an Apician ham himself)
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 02:39:47 -0400From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>Subject: Re: SC - curing hamStefan li Rous wrote:> Thanks for this confirmation, Adamantius. But what is this "charcuterie"?> I assume this is some kind of ham or some kind of preserving but more details> would be useful.Close. Literally translated from French, it means "meat cookery", butgenerally means the preparation of pork products like ham, bacon,sausage of various kinds, liver pates, and just about any other product,fresh or preserved, made from pork. Ordinary raw meat is sold in theboucherie or butcher shop.
Please don't be shy about things like this, at least not on myaccount...the method for curing country hams and other charcuterie seemsnot to have changed much since the Roman Republic (except maybe for thesugar).Jane Grigson, in her book on charcuterie, draws a striking comparisonbetween the process outlined by Cato the Elder for curing and smokinghams, and the process used until quite recently for York hams.Adamantius
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 18:33:33 -0400
From: "Philippa Alderton" <phlip at bright.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Question - Recipes for the low budget
The thing is, many of these recipes can be cooked in small quantities. I've
just been going through Milham's Platina, and reading such recipes as VI
46, entitled "Ham"
"Stick a knife into the middle of a ham (which is called "from the foot."
as pleases Varro) and smell it. If it smells good, the ham will be good; if
bad, it should be thrown away. Cook a good ham in white wine or vinegar.
Some say as much water should be added, especially Glaucus who does not
drink wine; they are certainly wrong. It is more pleasant cooked in wine
alone, or vinegar, and it lasts longer. Ham should not be over-cooked, nor
should it be taken from its juice except when it has cooled."
This one could be easily tried with a slice of ham in a frying pan, or a
whole fresh ham, imo.
<snip of boiled beef recipe>
Phlip
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1998 21:44:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: Sharon Gordon <gordonse at one.net>
Subject: Re: SC - ham
Many people also soak the ham in several changes of water, before they
even start cooking it. Smithfields' are very salty. Also this ham tastes
best in very thin slices--no thicker than thin sliced bacon.
If you have some left over for modern purposes try:
1) Triple decker turkey and smithfield ham sandwich with
lettuce and tomato and mayo.
2) Using scrappy pieces and fat to make hamspread in the blendar
or food processor.
3) Making hambone soup with vegetables. Including lima beans
and potatoes as some of your vegetables is especially good.
4) Ham biscuits
For more medieval purposes, it would be good where spicy ham
or prosciutto type meats are used.
Sharon
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1998 23:28:58 -0400
From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: Re: SC - ham
There is a recipe in Laud MS 553 for removing the saltiness from salted
meats. Oatmeal is bound in a cloth. The meat, oatmeal, & water are heated
on a very low flame for a long time, & then cooled. The process is
repeated as necessary.
BTW, I believe it was at the Daniel Boone homestead during restoration,
that a ham was discovered still hanging in the old smokehouse. I'm told it
was delicious.
Cindy/Sincgiefu
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 15:58:11 -0400
From: Marilyn Traber <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: SC - Apician Ham PERNAM
Well, folks, I made this several times running.
We got a great deal on pork shoulder, .49 american a pound
at the commissary on base. We bought 4, and 4 boxes of dried
caly figs.
THE HAM SHOULD BE BRAISED WITH A GOOD NUMBER OF FIGS AND
SOME THREE LAUREL LEAVES; THE SKIN IS THEN PULLED OFF AND
CUT INTO SQUARE PIECES; THESE ARE MACERATED WITH HONEY.
THEREUPON MAKE DOUGH CRUMBS OF FLOUR AND OIL. LAY THE DOUGH
OVER OR AROUND THE HAM STUD, STUD THE TOP WITH THE PIECES OF
SKIN SO THAT THEY WILL BE BAKED WITH THE DOUGH AND WHEN
DONE, RETIRE FROM THE OVEN AND SERVE.
attempt 1: Robs version
got out the pork, and figs. He cheated and used already pie
crusts. He put the pork, bay leaves and worchestershire
sauce in a stock pot, with water to cover and braised it in
the oven at 375-400 degrees fahr for about 1 1/2 hours,
until the meat thermometer read 160. He then pulled it out,
dumped the braising liquid and peeled off the skin. He cut
it into squares and soaked it in honey with a dash of
worchestershire sauce.
He wrapped the already pie crust around the trimmed and
dried off shoulder, and stuck the skin pieces back on top.
He put it back in the oven at 350 degrees fahr for about
half an hour. He went to check it out but when he opened the
oven to use the meat thermometer, the pie crust was not up
to the task and had buckled and slid off, and the surface
had started to brown. He decided that browning wasn't
desired, as the crust we figured was to keep the moisture in
and preserve the white color of the pork. We finished
roasting it, and it was very good, but a litle dry.
attempt 2:
got out the pork, figs, 3 bay leaves and the worchestershire
sauce[my garum!] and grabbed down a stock pot sized a bit
larger than the shoulder. popped in the figs, bay leaves,
about 1/4 c worchester sauce and water to cover, and covered
the pot. I popped it in the oven, set on 375-400 degrees
fahr. and watched an episode of I Claudius to get in the
mood. After the first episode, I poked it with a meat
thermometer and found it to be 150 degrees fahr. so I
decided to leave it in for another half an hour. After half
an hour, I got out olive oil and flour, and a dash of water
made a basic mix stiff enough to be handled and wrapped
around the shoulder.
I pulled the pot out, and fished out the shoulder, and
reserved it. I put the braising liquid in a pan and reduced
it to 1/4, and thickened it with a slurry of cold water and
spelt flour. Saved it and served it on the side. It needed
salt, pepper and another dash of worchesteshire sauce.
I pulled off the skin and flensed off some of the fat layer
that was left behind, and did a bit of judicious trimming of
bits to neaten things up while the squares of skin were
floating in a bowl of honey. I also scraped off the figgy
mush bits adhering in crevaces and dried it with paper
towels. On my cutting board, I had a layer of dough patted
out to about 1/2" thick, and about 2'x2'. I wrapped the
shoulder and sealed all the seams. I stuck the rather
sticky [and hot] pieces of pigskin to the top of the whole
mess. I put it into a shallow cake type pan with a roasting
rack in the bottom that has nifty handles to help you pull a
roast or bird out without getting burned or messy. I then
baked it at about 300 degrees fahr. for the half episode
left over, and almost all of the third one. I snuck the meat
thermometer into the beastie, which cracked the crust all to
heck, and it registered as done. We picked off all the crust
and popped it onto a platter and had refried mush with pine
nuts[vehling #299, sort of] and leeks and beets [#67] which
everybody considered a big success.
margali
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 08:19:11 -0400
From: "LHG, JRG" <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - Apecian Ham--Pernam
margali,
I have made the Pernam recipe in the past, and had very little trouble.
I think you have to look at 5 things:
1)Ham means HAM, in other words cured and smoked pork leg meat, not fresh
pork meat. The romans brought the "ham en croute" idea to britain, where it
survives to this day, so I think I'm dead-on here in suggesting you get
preserved ham, not "fresh" ham, for an Apecian recipe specifying ham.
2)Braise means to cook with a small amount of liquid. Boiled ham is one
thing and Braised ham another. One cooks with aromatic steam, and bottom
liquid and heat (braise), the other cooks with hot water (making the ham an
ineffective support for later baking, as the connective tissues have
disintegrated).
3)The figs' natural sugar gets a sort of caramelization thing going there
(be careful of scorching!), and the thick liquid is your sauce (I added
lemon juice rather than the garum you added---it needs something!).
4) Try a hot-water crust rather than a pie crust. I firmly believe that the
hot-water crust is a descendant of excessively thick pottage, and that's
why we cannot understand, modernly, how pie crust is supposed to stand on
it's own. When you think of it as a pottage extension you should not have
too much trouble dumping in the hot liquid and melted fat to the flour.
Let it cool slightly before working and it will react like
playdough.....you can get creative!
5) This dish is supposed to resemble a baked ham when finished, at least
somewhat. Think of it as roman double-illusion food: "Oh, look, it's ham!
Noooo, wait, there's a crust, so it must be something else.......No, wait,
It's a Ham in fig sauce!" Those romans had no sense of comedy!
Those are my observations of the dish. I'm sorry I don't have the redaction
I did so very long ago. I remember it was well received, however.
Aoife
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 19:14:46 -0400
From: Phil & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Apecian Ham--Pernam
Hullo, the list!
With regard to Margali and her Apician Pernam recipe, I've been meaning to
ask, and this was really the first opportunity: whose translation is this? It
looks rather different from the Flower and Rosenbaum version I have here, but
based even on simply looking at it in Latin I have a few questons...
Lady Aoife Finn wrote:
> 1)Ham means HAM, in other words cured and smoked pork leg meat, not fresh
> pork meat. The romans brought the "ham en croute" idea to britain, where it
> survives to this day, so I think I'm dead-on here in suggesting you get
> preserved ham, not "fresh" ham, for an Apecian recipe specifying ham.]
This appears to be the case; "poples" seems to refer to the anatomical
portion, and presumably a fresh pork leg, while "pernam" seems to refer to
cured ham. "Petaso" seems to be the shoulder, but it's unclear to me whether
fresh or cured is indicated.
> 2)Braise means to cook with a small amount of liquid. Boiled ham is one
> thing and Braised ham another. One cooks with aromatic steam, and bottom
> liquid and heat (braise), the other cooks with hot water (making the ham an
> ineffective support for later baking, as the connective tissues have
> disintegrated).
Yes, but the original Latin distinctly calls for boiling, which, while not
necessarily requiring a full rolling boil throughout the cooking process,
would indicate to me that it is covered by the water in which it is cooked.
I'd simmer this in water to cover, which would probably help with the salt, too.
> 3)The figs' natural sugar gets a sort of caramelization thing going there
> (be careful of scorching!), and the thick liquid is your sauce (I added
> lemon juice rather than the garum you added---it needs something!).
I'm sure there are all sorts of ways this dish can be improved upon, but I
wouldn't want to suggest that if I were starting out with a Smithfield ham,
Phlip would hurt me. It's my understanding that the figs don't appear in the
final dish. At least no further reference is made to them in the recipe, and
the pastry is stated to be wrapped around the ham. They may help absorb some
of the salt, as a potato or the little bag of meal some of the medieval
sources speak of might. There may even be either an enzyme in figs that might
function as a tenderizer of some kind, or perhaps the sweetness might help
counteract the strong flavor of a cured ham. It's sometimes hard to say why
things are done in a particular way. Maybe the figs are eaten separately.
> 4) Try a hot-water crust rather than a pie crust. I firmly believe that the
> hot-water crust is a descendant of excessively thick pottage, and that's
> why we cannot understand, modernly, how pie crust is supposed to stand on
> it's own. When you think of it as a pottage extension you should not have
> too much trouble dumping in the hot liquid and melted fat to the flour.
> Let it cool slightly before working and it will react like
> playdough.....you can get creative!
All this sounds like excellent advice, which may simply mean many of us are
smarter than Apicius. He advises us to make a pastry from flour and oil and to
cover the ham with it, after first removing the ham's skin, scoring the ham,
and filling the incisions with honey. I've made this dish too, according to
the Apician instructions, and found a dough made only from oil and flour to
have a rather unexpectedly odd texture: kinda like shortbread run amok, with
absolutely no gluten development. One possibiity is that freshly pressed olive
oil might have had a certain built-in water content, which would make this
more like a recognizable pastry dough.
> 5) This dish is supposed to resemble a baked ham when finished, at least
> somewhat. Think of it as roman double-illusion food: "Oh, look, it's ham!
> Noooo, wait, there's a crust, so it must be something else.......No, wait,
> It's a Ham in fig sauce!" Those romans had no sense of comedy!
Terence? Plautus? For that matter, Caesar? No sense of comedy? Perhaps you
mean the good people of Rome, New York?
Now, although I'm a little curious as to how some of these decisions were made
(I suspect we've been Vehlinged again!), please understand that I will be
utterly shameless about inviting myself to the dinner tables of either of
these two ladies, at the earliest opportunity...
Adamantius
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 20:51:25 EDT
From: Mordonna22 at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Apecian Ham--Pernam
liontamr at ptd.net writes:
> 1)Ham means HAM, in other words cured and smoked pork leg meat, not fresh
> pork meat. The romans brought the "ham en croute" idea to britain, where it
> survives to this day, so I think I'm dead-on here in suggesting you get
> preserved ham, not "fresh" ham, for an Apecian recipe specifying ham.
>From The Random House Dictionary, copyright 1980, published by Ballentine
Books ISBN: 0-345-32298-3
"ham(1) (ham), n. 1. a cut of meat from a hog's heavy-muscled rear part
between hip and hock, usually cured. 2. that part of a hog's hind leg. 3.
the part of the leg back of the knee. 4. often hams, the back of the thigh,
or the thigh and the buttocks together."
Mordonna DuBois
Haven of Warriors
Atenveldt
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1998 21:28:09 EDT
From: Mordonna22 at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Apple cider
phlip at bright.net writes:
> I have just gotten access to an unlimited supply of unpasteurized, no
> preservative added, apple cider.
>
> Any suggestions?
Try Ras's recipe for baked ham as redacted by me:
1 ham
Apple cider
1 cloved onion
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp peppercorns
Place ham in large covered baking pan or dish, cover with apple cider, add the
cloved onion and spices. Bake at 200 degrees F overnight.
Wonderful! !
Mordonna DuBois
Haven of Warriors
Atenveldt
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 1999 08:45:55 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Cooking salted ham
KAPPLERR at swos.navy.mil writes:
<< First off, I have what we call a country ham sitting in the larder begging
to be used. >>
Rinse. Cover with water. Simmer for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. You can then
carefully remove it and brown it in the oven but it is just as tasty boiled.
This would be the closest to a period way of fixing it and instructions can
be found in any copy of 'The Boston School of Cookery' or Amish/Pennsylvania
Dutch cookbook as well as various period manuscripts. This was the most
popular way to cook salted hams for centuries up until the water injected
travesties were introduced in the modern era. The addition of 3 or 4 cloves
stuck in a whole onion, a 2 inch piece of cinnamon (cassia) stick and a 8 to
10 black peppercorns will improve the e