Provided you have a butcher who can tunnel bone a leg for you, this is really quite a simple process. And the results are amazing. Think how much you spend on 8 wafer slices of parma/proscuitto/serano ham. You’re going to have more than you know what to do with after this. Plus, it looks the bomb hanging in your front porch.
 
You’ll need to collate a few things before you start:
 
A container slightly larger than the leg, that has some drainage at the bottom. (I used a plastic storage box and punched some holes in the base.)
A few metres of butchers’s string.
2 metres of (un-dyed) muslin.
A plank of wood/plastic that fits inside the top of the container. (Or, if you are using a stacking plastic container like I was, a good option is to use another container that slots neatly inside the first one.)
Some heavy weights – about 20-30lb (10-15kg). I used my dumbbells. They weren’t being used for anything else.
 
If, like mine, your butcher didn’t manage to properly tunnel bone the leg, you will have to do some stitching. An easy job thus becomes a whole lot harder. Find a large darning needle threaded with butchers’ string and a carpenters bradawl (or something strong and sharp). Tightly stich together the cut, to re-form the leg as if the leg bone had just been slid out. You will also have by now resolved to find a new butcher.
 
Weigh the leg and make a note of it – you’ll need to know for later.
 

 

 
The next stage is the cure, for which you will need the following:
 
6kg (13lb) cooking salt (not sea salt)
A handful of black peppercorns, cracked
A handful of coriander seeds, cracked
 
Rub the entire surface – inside and out – of the leg with salt. Pour a couple of inches of salt into the bottom of your container. Then sprinkle half the peppercorns and coriander seeds over the salt layer.
 
Lay the leg on top and sprinkle over the remaining peppercorns and coriander seeds. Then pour the rest of the salt over – ensuring it is now surrounded above, below and around the sides.
 
Place in a cool, dark place and then add the plank of wood/plastic on top of the salt and add the weights. Your weights need to be about twice the weight of your leg.
 

 
Leave the ham for 4 days per kilo.
 
Then you are ready to move on to the next stage – hanging the ham.
 
Unearth the ham from the salt. It will have lost a lot of it’s bulk and be much darker. Wash it off thoroughly and pat it dry. Now rub it all over with white wine vinegar.
 
Double wrap the ham in the muslin, and wind it all up with butchers’ string so that you have left a length from which to hang it.
 
Now find somewhere that is shaded and ideally draughty to hang it. An open porch for example. I happened to have a meat safe to hand (don’t ask), so mine went in there. This has the added benefit of keeping inquisitive animals away.
 
Leave it to hang for 6 months. When it is ready, it should be pretty firm to the touch, but still give a little.
 
When it is ready, unwrap the ham and don’t be alarmed by any mould on it. That’s fine. Just make sure you cut it off. If the ham were to have turned bad – it would smell very bad. Otherwise, it should smell pretty delicious.
 
Finely slice it (not easy – if a friend has a catering slicer – call them) and enjoy. Absolutely delicious. I did two.
 

 

 

 

 
This recipe owes a lot to Hugh F-W, Delia, and my friend Moff.
This makes about 6lb (2.5kg) of delicious chutney. Damson is the king of chutney ingredients and this is a very dark, rich chutney.
 
This is an autumn task, since the apples & damsons will be ready around September/October.
 
Of course, tweak it to your own desires. I have a serious pomegranate habit, hence its inclusion here. You might not, so just leave it out or swap it with something else (cherries, figs). If you’re struggling to find damsons, swap them for plums.
 
1lb (450g) cored & chopped Bramley apples
3lb (1.3kg) damsons, stoned
2-3 large onions (around 1½lb / 680g), chopped
1 pint (600ml) cider vinegar
1lb (450g) seedless raisins
1lb (450g) soft brown sugar
1lb demerara sugar
2oz (60g) pomegranate seeds (fresh if you have the energy, dried if not)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 heaped teaspoons ground ginger
6 cloves, crushed
 

 
Somehow, you have to get the stones out of the damsons. So, either split each one with a knife and twist the stones out. Or, stew in half of the vinegar until soft, and then scoop the stones out of the mix.
 
Core & finely chop the apples. Don’t peel them.
 
Add the apples, damsons & vinegar to your largest, widest pan. Simmer on a low heat.
 
Finely chop the onions and add, along with all the remaining ingredients, to the pan. Stir well.
 
Simmer on a low heat for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. The stirring dissolves the sugar – otherwise you will end up with a ‘crunchy’ chutney with clumps of sugar in it.
 
It is ready when you can drag a wooden spoon across the surface, making a trench that only slowly fills with vinegar. It will become firmer once cooled, so it’s best not to reduce/dry out the chutney too much.
 
Remove from heat and get your warm sterilised* jars ready. Whilst the chutney is still warm decant it into the jars. If your jars have plastic/rubber on the bottom of their lids, you can screw them on tightly now (most do – if you’re recycling old pesto/pasta sauce/jam jars). If not, you need to introduce a wax disc between the jar and the screw lid – the vinegary chutney must not come into direct contact with the metal lid.
 
Leave to cool & stand for at least 3 months somewhere cool and dark. If you can manage it, leave them for 4-5 months.
 
*NB – to sterilise your recycled jars you have two options – sterilising powder from the supermarket. Or, simply thoroughly wash out the jars (dishwasher if you have one) and then pop them in a low (120˚C/250F/Gas Mark 1-2) oven until dried.