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Before I share this amazing recipe with you, let me first tell you a little about the origins of the Christmas celebration feast, and why today we eat a gammon at this time of year.
Although the first recorded feast was celebrated in 336AD, in Rome, the eating of a ham or pig actually has its roots in Germanic Pagan history. Traditionally, in ancient Norse times, a wild boar was sacrificed to the Norse god Freyr, asking him to show favour on his people in the new year.
Freyr was mainly associated with prosperity, good weather and fertility. In England, and throughout Scandinavia, it is thought that St Stephen inherited some of Freyr's characteristics. A side note - in Western Christianity, St Stephen's Day is the 26th December, now celebrated as Boxing Day, in most countries.
Pope Julias the First declared 25th December as "Christmas" in the 4th century, tying this celebration in with the observance of the winter solstice already celebrated by many other Pagan cultures, and with this, came the eating of boar, and in today's times - ham.
🌈🌈So interesting, right?!🌈🌈
Here is what I made this Christmas; a lovely, sticky, tender gammon, cooked for twelve hours in a mixture of treacle and maple syrup.
(serves four)
Preheat your oven to 250'C/450'F. Prepare your baking tray by lining it with tinfoil and placing the rack over tinfoil.
Place two layers of tinfoil on flat surface, shiny surface down. Lay your gammon in the center of the tinfoil neatly.
Drizzle the ham with the treacle and maple syrup. No need for salt as the ham itself is smoked, and quite salty.
Place the garlic into the tinfoil, and wrap your gammon quite tightly. By doing this, you are making sure that no moisture escapes, and it all goes directly back into your ham.
Blast for thirty minutes at 250'C/450'F, and then turn down your oven to 100'C/212'F. Cook for 12 hours at this low heat. You can actually cook this for up to 24 hours, depending on how much time you have.
Your home will smell like candied bacon, and you will want to bash your cats on the head with tinsel, and make them sing Jingle Bells on repeat. 🎄
In the meantime you can prepare your veg, or whatever sides you choose. I chose to roast carrots, garlic, potatoes and shallots with rosemary and maple syrup.
Once the twelve hours have passed, it is time for the great unveiling of the ham. Cue the fanfare and cherubs.
The ham will be blackened and crispy, and smell heavenly 🎄 Discard the tinfoil, but keep the juices aside. Place the ham on the baking tray, and carefully cut the hard skin off. Increase the oven temp to 200'C/400'F.
Once you have removed the skin, score the fat in diamond shaped movements. Stud each diamond with a clove.
In a small bowl, mix the leftover juices, a bit of Demerara sugar, more treacle and the Dijon mustard, keeping the ratio 4:1 (1 T mustard for every four T treacle) Brush the fat with this mixture, and bake the ham for a further 20 minutes, or until the fat is crispy and brown.
Rest for about fifteen minutes before carving.
I then used the leftover juices to make a sauce, which we poured over the ham. I actually cannot describe the tenderness. I have never had ham, so moist, and so gorgeously, yet, so subtly flavoured. The treacle gives the ham an almost caramel flavour, but much deeper and darker.
This was a truly decadent meal, fit for a god - Freyr - you there?
Hope you enjoyed this recipe, and your Christmas too!
Many thanks - 
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