Glaseret Paaskeskinke

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large stockpot, big enough to submerge the ham completely
• •Roasting tin
• •Sharp carving knife and fork
• •Kitchen skewer or thin knife for testing

Instructions

1. 1

   Simmer the gammon

   Place the gammon in a large stockpot and cover with cold water by at least five centimetres. Add the halved onion, carrots, bay leaves, peppercorns, and allspice berries. Set it over medium heat and bring the water slowly to a gentle simmer. This is not a boil. A rolling boil tightens the muscle fibers and turns the meat dry and stringy. What you want is a surface that barely trembles, with small bubbles rising lazily from the bottom. Reduce the heat until you find that pace and hold it there. Skim any grey foam from the surface during the first twenty minutes, then leave it alone. Simmer for approximately two and a half hours, or about forty minutes per kilogram.

   Start with cold water, not hot. Cold water draws the excess salt out of the gammon gradually and evenly. Hot water seals the surface and traps the salt inside.
2. 2

   Test for doneness

   Push a skewer or thin knife into the thickest part of the ham near the bone. It should slide in with almost no resistance, and the juices that follow should run clear. If there is any tightness or the juices are pink, give it another twenty minutes and test again. The meat needs to be tender all the way through before it goes into the oven, because the roasting is only about the glaze. It will not cook the interior further.

3. 3

   Remove the rind

   Lift the gammon carefully onto a roasting tin and let it cool just enough to handle, about fifteen minutes. Using a sharp knife, work the tip under the rind at one corner and begin to peel it back. It should come away in large, satisfying sheets, leaving a smooth, even layer of white fat across the surface. If the fat tears or pulls away with the rind, the gammon needed a little more time in the water. Don't discard the rind. Roast it separately at high heat until it puffs and crackles, or freeze it for stock.

   The rind peels best when the ham is warm but not scalding. Use a cloth to hold the joint steady while you pull. The fat layer beneath should be at least half a centimetre thick. That fat is what creates the glaze.
4. 4

   Score the fat

   With a sharp knife, score the fat in a diamond pattern, cutting lines about two centimetres apart on the diagonal, then crossing them in the other direction. Cut through the fat layer but not into the meat beneath. This distinction matters: if you cut too deep, the juices escape during roasting and the meat dries out. If you don't cut deep enough, the glaze has nothing to grip. The grooves give the mustard and sugar a surface to settle into, and as the heat hits, each diamond of fat puffs and crisps independently. That pattern is not decoration. It is the architecture of the crust.

5. 5

   Glaze and stud with cloves

   Heat the oven to 220°C. Mix the French mustard, muscovado sugar, and honey together into a thick, dark paste. Spread this generously over the entire scored surface with the back of a spoon or with your hands, pressing it into every groove and across every diamond. The mustard provides sharpness and depth. The sugar provides the caramel. The honey binds them and helps the glaze set. Once the surface is coated, press a whole clove into the center of each diamond where the scored lines cross. The cloves are not optional. They give the glaze a warm, aromatic undertone that balances the sharpness of the mustard, and they look beautiful: small dark stars against the golden crust.

6. 6

   Roast until caramelized

   Place the glazed ham on the middle shelf of the oven and roast for twenty-five to thirty minutes, watching carefully through the glass. The glaze should darken to deep amber and bubble gently across the surface. The edges of each scored diamond will lift and crisp. If the corners begin to blacken before the centre has caught up, drop the temperature to 200°C and continue. You want a surface that is deeply caramelized, slightly crackled, with a sheen where the sugar has melted and set into something that looks almost lacquered.

   If you want a thicker, more dramatic crust, brush a second coat of the mustard and sugar mixture over the surface halfway through roasting. The double layer gives a deeper colour and a more pronounced crackle.
7. 7

   Rest and carve

   Transfer the ham to a wooden carving board and let it rest for at least twenty minutes. Do not skip this. The juices redistribute through the meat during this time, and if you carve too soon they run out onto the board and the slices go pale and dry. Carve in thin, even slices, working parallel to the bone. The first slice is never the prettiest, but it is the cook's reward. Serve warm or at room temperature. At a påskefrokost the ham often sits on the table for the length of the meal, and people return to it between courses. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •The quality of the mustard matters here. Use a good French Dijon, not the sweet yellow kind. The glaze needs that sharp, clean heat to balance the sweetness of the sugar. A grainy Dijon works beautifully too, and gives the crust more texture.
• •Save the simmering liquid. Strain it, cool it, and you have a deeply flavoured stock that is extraordinary in split pea soup or kartoffelsuppe later in the week. This is the kind of kitchen economy that Danish grandmothers practised without thinking about it.
• •If your gammon is very salty (taste a small piece from the edge after simmering), soak it in cold water overnight before you begin. Change the water once. Most modern brined joints need less soaking than they once did, but it is worth checking with your butcher.
• •At a Danish påskefrokost, the ham is served alongside Italian salad (italiensk salat), pickled beetroot, good bread, and mustard. A cold pilsner or a small glass of snaps is the right thing to drink alongside. The table stays set for hours. Nobody is in a hurry.

Advance Preparation

• •If your gammon is traditionally brined and very salty, soak it in cold water overnight, changing the water once. Most lightly cured modern joints do not need this step, but ask your butcher.
• •The ham can be simmered a full day ahead. Let it cool in its cooking liquid, then refrigerate overnight. The next day, lift it out, remove the rind while still cool (it peels easily from chilled fat), score, glaze, and roast. This splits the work across two days and makes Easter morning far calmer.
• •Leftover ham keeps for up to five days in the fridge, wrapped in beeswax paper or a clean cloth. Cold sliced paaskeskinke on rugbrod with mustard and pickled cucumber is one of the great pleasures of the days after Easter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)