Julskinka (Swedish Christmas Ham)
Source: Martin James’ International Recipes
The main dish served on Christmas Eve is the “julskinka”, the
traditional Christmas ham.
Usually, a ham should last at least for
a week and appear at almost all meals between Christmas Eve and New
Years Day.
3-5 kg salt-cured fresh ham (do NOT use dried cured ham)
1 egg
2 tablespoons mustard
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
Depending upon the method of salt curing it might be necessary
to leave the ham overnight covered with water to desalt it.
Preheat the oven to 125 degrees C (240 degrees F).
Insert an
oven thermometer in the thickest part of the ham.
Leave it in the
oven until the temperature reaches 75 degrees C (167 degrees
F).
Remove the rind carefully and as much of the fat as you like.
(With less fat left it is healthier but drier!)
Heat the oven to 225 degrees C (450 degrees F).
Mix egg, mustard and sugar.
Place the ham on a roasting-pan, cover it with the mixture and
sift the breadcrumbs over if.
They should stick to the egg-mustard
mixture.
Bake the ham for 10 minutes in the oven.
When ready, it should
have a golden colour with a few deep brown but no black patches.
If
you’re not going to use it as the centrepiece on the buffet table
you can serve it together with potatoes, red cabbages, mustard and
stewed and mashed apples.