Christmas Eve ham: a family tradition

There are certain dishes that signal Christmas has truly started. For our family, it's always been Mum's Christmas ham.

I think the original inspiration came from Delia Smith, but over the years Mum made it her own – perfectly suited to the AGA. Mum was a brilliant cook and we grew up eating lots of delicious things over Christmas, but this ham is what my brothers and I always remember. She'd make it every Christmas Eve, officially for sandwiches and cold meats on Boxing Day. 

But by the time my brothers and I were teenagers, the best moment of Christmas Eve was seeing that ham sitting in the fridge, covered in tin foil. We'd take it out and stand around it, the three of us, cutting off ‘just a sliver’ to try it. Those slivers kept coming, and we'd eat loads.

As we got older, it became a tradition to come back from the pub on Christmas Eve – having caught up with friends over mulled wine – and gather round the kitchen table, ostensibly to ‘check the ham was ok’. As we met the partners who'd later become our husbands and wives, they were welcomed into this ritual too. Now, my sons have joined the ceremonial Christmas Eve ham eating tradition. No plates or sides required, just one sharp knife to cut off bits to eat with your fingers.

Mum passed away a few years ago, but the tradition carries on. My brothers and I still make this ham every Christmas. I sometimes try other recipes – Nigella's coca-cola ham, different glazes – but I always come back to this one.

Cooking your Christmas ham on the AGA 

This isn't so much a precise recipe as a number of ideas to follow – it’s a method that's beautifully forgiving. The AGA does most of the work for you.

You'll need a gammon joint (size depends on your numbers – check the packet for cooking times, though this method is wonderfully flexible), a cast iron casserole, cloves, English mustard, and dark brown sugar.

Place your ham in the cast iron casserole – no water or other liquid needed. Put it in the roasting oven for about 30 minutes to get the temperature rising, then transfer to the simmering oven or slow cooking oven. Leave it there, blipping away for 4 to 5 hours depending on size. You can pop out, cook other things around it, forget about it entirely while you get on with everything else.

When it's done, take it out and let it cool slightly. Cut off the skin and score the fat in a criss-cross pattern to create diamonds. Push a single clove into each cross. Then spread the ham liberally with English mustard and dark brown sugar.

Put it back in the roasting oven – R8 – for about half an hour. Keep an eye on it so the sugar caramelises without catching. Leave it to cool. Try to resist the urge to try it immediately. (We never manage this!)

The gentle, radiant heat of the simmering oven is perfect for cooking ham. There's no risk of it cooking too fast or drying out. You can genuinely forget about it for hours whilst you're doing everything else that needs doing on Christmas Eve.

The cast iron casserole holds the heat beautifully, and because you're not adding any liquid, all the flavour stays concentrated in the meat. That final blast in the roasting oven caramelises to perfection creating a delicious salty sweet glaze.

It’s a zero stress, maximum taste situation. Everyone I've ever made this for has loved it.

It's the kind of ham you promise yourself you should make more often. But there's something rather lovely about only having it once a year. It stays special that way. It stays ‘Christmas’.

If you'd like to book a service before Christmas to make sure your AGA is ready for all the festive cooking ahead, please get in touch soon. And if you'd like more recipes and stories like this, sign up to receive our newsletter – you'll find the form in the footer below. We send one email out each month with seasonal recipes, AGA tips and offers, and the occasional family story.

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