Organic Smoked Mutton Ham
"Cut it like a Ham and take 2 oz salt-petre and rub the mutton all over and let it lie a day and make a Pickle of Bay Salt and spring water and put the mutton in and let it lie 8 days and take and hang it in a chimney for 3 weeks, and then boil it till it is tender."
Eighteenth Century Mutton Ham Recipe
Our organic smoked mutton ham was awarded a bronze award at the 2006 Organic Food Awards
Mutton ham is a long-lost speciality of British cookery. Known for centuries as a way to keep sheep meat over the winter, when farmers could not feed their animals, through lack of conserved feed, and so needed to preserve the meat.
“Duncan Dhu made haste to bring out the pair of pipes that was his principal possession, and to set before his guests a mutton-ham and a bottle of that drink which they call Athole brose, and which is made of old whiskey, strained honey and sweet cream, slowly beaten together in the right order and proportion.”
From Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
The method is similar to pork ham, in that a chemical process is used. The use of saltpetre to preserve meat is very ancient, and can be traced back in the UK to Mediaeval times.
Our mutton ham is made using a traditional 'wet curing' process, unlike our pork hams which we produce using the 'dry-curing method.
A brine is prepared with salt and saltpetre. This is then mixed with herbs and spices and the meat is laid in this mixture for some weeks, before being dried, and if required smoked, and later cooked.
It is available as smoked, and cooked (see above) or uncooked (see left).
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