Pawaru-Grahmata

№ 81II. nodaļa

Vāczemes šķiņķis ar salnumu

Boiled German ham in wine aspic

  • Serves 6–8 as a cold main course
  • about 3 hours, plus soaking and 12–24 hours to set
  • Melnraksts · vēl nav izmēģināts

1796Wahzsemmes schkinkis ar salnumu.

Modernizētslpp. 121–122 · PDF 135–136
6 porcijas

The book soaks a whole ham for 24 hours, and makes the jelly from 1 mārciņa of hartshorn, 1 lotiņš of isinglass, 1 kortelis of wine, 1 spoon of wine vinegar and 2 lotiņi of sugar, which converts to about 420 g hartshorn, 13 g isinglass, 320 ml wine, 15 ml vinegar and 26 g sugar. We use a 2 kg joint instead of a whole ham and gelatine instead of hartshorn and isinglass.

Method

8 soļi
  1. Soak the ham in plenty of cold water in the fridge or a cold place, changing the water two or three times. A dry-cured ham needs the full 24 hours of the book; a modern wet-cured gammon usually needs only a few hours or none, so follow the producer's advice. If unsure, fry a thin slice and taste it.
  2. Drain, put the ham in a large pan, cover with fresh cold water and bring slowly to the boil. Skim, then simmer very gently, without boiling hard, for about 20 minutes per 450 g plus 20 minutes: about 1¾ hours for 2 kg. It is done when tender and the centre reaches 70 °C.
  3. Lift it out and let it cool for 15 minutes. Peel off the skin, leaving a thin layer of fat (our addition: trimming the fat), and take out the bone if there is one. Drain it in a colander.
  4. Press the ham back into a neat shape in a deep dish or bowl that just holds it, so it looks as it did before. Cover the top with the halved lemon slices. Leave it to cool, then chill.
  5. For the jelly, sprinkle the gelatine over 100 ml of the cold water and leave it to swell (or soak the leaves in cold water). Simmer the remaining 400 ml water with half the lemon zest for 10 minutes and take out the zest.
  6. Add the wine, vinegar, sugar and the rest of the zest and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain through a sieve lined with muslin, take off the heat and stir in the soaked gelatine (squeezed, if leaves) until dissolved.
  7. Let the jelly cool until it is syrupy but still liquid, then pour it over the cold ham to cover it.
  8. Chill for 12–24 hours (the book says 24 hours in the cellar). Serve in slices with the jelly.

Notes

What the book says vs. what we added

the method is the book's: the ham soaked for 24 hours, boiled until tender, skinned and boned, drained, pressed back into shape in a bowl, covered with halved lemon slices and cooled; the jelly made by boiling well-washed hartshorn, soaked isinglass and lemon peel for 3 hours, straining it through a cloth, adding more lemon peel, wine, vinegar and sugar and boiling another hour, then poured over the ham and left 24 hours in the cellar. The gelatine, the cooking time per weight and the core temperature are ours.

Soaking (sense check)

24 hours is right for a whole dry-cured, smoked ham, which can be very salty; American country hams are still soaked 12–48 hours. The book's figure is plausible. Modern mild cures need far less.

The ham

Vāczemes šķiņķis is "German ham", probably Westphalian, the best-known German ham in the Baltic trade. Today Westphalian ham is sold to be eaten raw in thin slices and is too expensive to boil, so we use an uncooked gammon joint, smoked or unsmoked.

The jelly

the book's own test still works: chill a few drops on a plate; they should set firm. It also says that if hartshorn jelly won't set, boil it with 2 calves' feet, "because sometimes the hartshorn is to blame". For a jelly made from trotters instead of gelatine, see 02-078. The book doesn't say what colour of wine; white keeps the jelly clear.

Safety

keep the dish refrigerated and eat it within 3–4 days.

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