Recipe: Glazed Ham in Ginger Beer

It was my Dad who introduced me to Nigella Lawson’s Ham in Coca Cola a few years ago when he rustled up a giant joint of ham one Easter. I remember the moment so clearly, it was an utter revelation. Why had we never thought to cook in coca cola before?! The coke helps tenderise the meat and enhance the sweetness. It is utterly divine.

So I decided to take some inspiration from Nigella’s recipe and introduced my gammon joint to some ginger beer. I have also switched up the glaze to use golden syrup and dijon mustard with an extra sprinkle of ground ginger to bring out the depth of flavour. It worked out rather well I think. I had intended to keep half the joint for sandwiches the following day but the family gobbled the whole lot up for dinner. Better get a bigger joint next time!

Glazed Ham in Ginger Beer (serves 6-8)

Ingredients

• 2kg Gammon
• 750ml Ginger Beer
• 1 large onion, peeled and halved

For the glaze

• 20 whole cloves
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar
• 1tsp ground ginger

Method

1. In a deep saucepan place the gammon skin side down with the onion and cover with the ginger beer. bring to the boil and then reduce to a low simmer with the lid on for about 2 hours (or adapt to the size of your joint giving an hour per kilo). Remove carefully from the pan and allow to cool a bit.
2. Preheat the oven to 240C.
3. Remove the skin with a sharp knife leaving just a thin layer of fat. Score the fat diagonally both ways to create diamonds. Poke a clove into each corner of the diamonds. Gently smooth the golden syrup over the fat without dislodging the cloves, followed my smearing the mustard over the top and finally sprinkle the sugar and ginger over evenly.
4. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes or so until the coating looks sticky and caramelised.
5. Serve with lots of roast potatoes and trimmings.

Enjoy!

Tagged as: food, ginger beer, ham, recipe