Hams from bacon pigs are better than pork. An onion shred small gives it a good flavour.
Green Hams.
Salt a leg of pork as for boiling, with a little saltpetre to make it red. Let it lie three weeks in salt, and then hang for a month or six weeks; but if longer it is of no consequence. When boiled, stuff with young strawberry leaves and parsley, which must be particularly well washed or they will be gritty.
Ham, to prepare for dressing without soaking.
Put the ham into a coarse sack well tied up, or sew it up in a cloth. Bury it three feet under ground in good mould; there let it remain for three or four days at least. This is an admirable way. The ham eats much mellower and finer than when soaked.
Ham, to dress.
Boil the ham for two hours; take it out and trim it neatly all round; prepare in a stewpan some thin slices of veal, so as to cover the bottom; add to it two bunches of carrots sliced, six large onions, two cloves, two bunches of parsley, a tea-spoonful of cayenne pepper, a pint of beef jelly, a bottle of white wine, and three pints of boiling water. Place the ham in the stewpan, and let it boil an hour and three quarters; then serve it immediately without sauce, preserving the sauce for other use.
Ham, to roast.
Tie or sew up the ham in a coarse cloth, put it into a sack, and bury it three or four feet under ground, for three or four days before you dress it. Wash it in warm water, pare it, and scrape the rind. Spit and lay it down to roast. Into a broad stewpan put a pint of white wine, a quart of good broth, half a pint of the best vinegar, two large onions sliced, a blade of mace, six cloves, some pepper, four bay-leaves, some sweet basil, and a sprig of thyme. Let all these have a boil; and set the liquor under the ham, and baste very frequently with it. When the ham is roasted, take up the pan; skim all the fat off; pour the liquor through a fine sieve; then take off the rind of the ham, and beat up the liquor with a bit of butter; put this sauce under, and serve it.