
MUTTON
HAM |
RECIPE
BY TALLYRAND |
 |

Mutton ham
recipe and recipe
for Muttonbird or Sooty Shearwater
Haere
mai . . . to Tallyrand’s Living (New Zealand) Cuisine month!
And
living in New Zealand means knowing that 'haere mai' (har-eh-rhe
my) is the Maori for ‘welcome’ and 'haere ra' (har-eh-rhe
rah) being ‘farewell’.
I
was asked in mid April, if I would be consultant chef for an
article for the prestigious National
Geographic magazine. They wanted to do a spread on my home country
Wales. After discussion,
rather than a single recipe I wrote up several recipes that
the readers can put together for a full dinner menu of Welsh
dishes. This is now in the June issue; though I am unsure how
many of the editions it is in, as they publish different editions
for different countries. But you can see the online version
at Leite's Culinaria : http://www.leitesculinaria.com/
It
got me thinking that it was also high time that I paid homage
to my adopted country, New Zealand. More specifically, recipes
from the ‘indigenous’ people the Maori, but also other traditional
New Zealand dishes too, so over the next four weeks I hope
you will join me for the wonders that is New Zealand. Accompanying
these recipes each week will be photos of the wonderous sights
of New Zealand, that I am sure you will be seeing lots more
of once the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie trilogy is released.
I
thought, two recipes each week. One that is purely for interest
and one that can easily be replicated by everyone. Why purely
for interest? Well, because you either, probably wouldn’t
want to try it or couldn’t because the ingredients are indigenous
to these fair isles. Trust me, you will soon see which is
which!
The
Maori people being of Polynesian descent, their foods have
much in common with other Polynesian cultures: Samoa, Fiji,
Hawaii, etc. So if you know anything of these cuisines, you
will no doubt see similarities with their dishes but known
by another name.
For
this first week we are going to look at meat dishes. New Zealand
is a hunter’s dream, if you are into game foods. Besides the
certain seasons on ducks and geese, there are few restrictions,
one can get up in the morning, head out to the bush and be
back by nightfall with a wild boar, chamois, deer, thar or
goat. As long as you like tramping through dense bush-land,
maybe in the rain and cold and hauling a 150kg animal on your
back for 10 miles! Personally I like to leave that to others
. . . I just love to cook and eat it . . . trust me, if you
like pork, you would love wild boar!
I
first came to New Zealand under contract to THC hotels, a
New Zealand owned hotel chain and was lucky enough to be placed
immediately in the Bay of Islands, at Waitangi. Known as the
‘birthplace of the nation’, for it was here that the (controversial)
treaty was signed giving sovereignty of New Zealand to the
British Crown in 1840. It was here that I learnt so much about
the Maori culture, being immersed in it on a daily basis and
from here I gathered these recipes that I share with you

MUTTONBIRD OR SOOTY SHEARWATER

These
are native seabirds known as Titi in Maori. Because they are
seabirds, their flesh is tough, salty and has a strong fishy
taste to them, unless treated properly they are quite an acquired
taste, which has been described as chicken stuffed with kippers!
They are readily available in New Zealand and normally bought
(strangely enough) from fishmongers!
To
remove or tone down the strong flavour; the plucked and drawn
bird is best soaked for a day, with the water being changed
every 8 hours, then boiled for at least 45 minutes, the water
changed and re-boiled and then repeated a third time until
the flesh has softened. It may then be slowly grilled or roasted
to taste.

MUTTON HAM

Interestingly,
the use of a different name for the cooked meat of an animal;
beef for cows, pork for pig, etc came from the Norman conquest
of England in 1066. Prior to that the name of the live animal
was used. Mutton is the name given to the meat from the sheep
that is more than two years old; hogget (a Scottish term)
is up to two years and lamb is up to one year old.
Mutton
ham? . . . A strange name I know, but then if one can name
a bird Muttonbird, why not have a mutton ham? Mutton ham is
a wonderful alternative to the usual ‘pig ham’ and produced
by following a similar method. It can be easily and safely
made at home, serve it as you would a hot ‘pig ham’ or chill
it, slice it and use as for cold ‘pig ham’.
To
confuse matters even more a stuffed, roasted leg of mutton in
New Zealand is traditionally known as ‘Colonial goose’, made
up in the colonial days as a way of dressing up the fact that
mutton was being served, yet again!
Ingredients
for Mutton
Ham
leg
of mutton
|
1
|
pc
|
brown
sugar
|
150
|
gm
|
ground
cloves
|
1
|
tbs
|
ground
ginger
|
1
|
tbs
|
ground
mace
|
1
|
tbs
|
ground
white pepper
|
1
|
tbs
|
sea
salt
|
150
|
gm
|
How
to make Mutton
Ham
To
cure the 'ham'
- Combine
all then spices with the sugar
- Place
the mutton leg in a roasting tray and rub the sugar cure
into well and evenly
- Allow
to stand for 2 hours and then rub in the salt
- Place,
covered in a cool dark place (preferably not the refrigerator;
but it must be no higher than 6ºC) for 6 days, turning the
mutton twice a day and rubbing in any of the cure that has
dropped off. The cure may become liquefied and this is normal,
just spoon it back over the mutton and rub it back in
- After
6 days, soak the mutton leg in water for two hours (less
if you like a salty ham) prior to cooking
To
cook the 'ham'
- Place
into a large pot, cover with water and add some parsley
stalks, rosemary, thyme, cracked peppercorns, a bayleaf
and a little honey
- Simmer
slowly for approx. 45 minutes per kilo or until tender
Chef's
Tip for Mutton
Ham
Wonderful
when served with a new potatoes tossed in a cashew nut butter,
some fresh fruit chutney, steamed broccoli, buttered asparagus
and maybe a light mustard and parsley sauce.

Chef's
terminology:

|
|
lt |
=
|
litres |
|
tsp |
= |
teaspoon |
|
ml |
=
|
millelitres |
|
tbs |
= |
tablespoon |
|
kg |
=
|
kilograms |
|
sq |
= |
sufficient
quantity (add to taste) |
|
gm |
=
|
grams |
|
pc |
= |
piece,
meaning a whole one of |
 |
Enjoy
your Mutton Ham and bon appetit . . . . .
Recipe
from professional
Chef Tallyrand

Email
Hub-UK : info@hub-uk.com

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