Читать книгу The Taste of Britain - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - Страница 83

Devonshire hams have been known for well over 150 years, and there is evidence that a particular ham cure existed in the area for a century before that. White (1932) quotes a Devon recipe for salting hams from the 1700s. Mrs Beeton (1861) gives a recipe for bacon or hams the Devonshire way, which shows the cure to have begun with dry-salting for 2 days, followed by brining in a pickle based on salt and sugar in proportions roughly 2:1. The hams were smoked for keeping and the pickle boiled and fortified with more salt and some black treacle before re-use. Anne Petch, the most prominent maker of hams currently working in this area, remarks that sugar or treacle in the cure helped to act as preservative and flavouring before saltpetre was available in a reliable form; it also counteracted the effects on flavour and texture which large quantities of salt had on the ham. Law’s Grocer’s Manual (c.1895) mentions that ‘Devonshire long cut hams - smoked or pale dried, and produced in the district round Plymouth - are also highly popular.’ By the 1930s, the Devonshire cure, whilst remaining a brine cure, had lost much of its sweetness. A recipe collected from a farmer’s wife between the world wars requires only a little treacle added to a salt and water brine.