Choose a good-quality cooked ham to set into flavoured aspic for this delightful traditional dish. Slice and serve it with salad leaves or crusty French bread

Serves 4-6
500 g cooked ham, diced
into 1-cm cubes
2 sachets aspic or
gelatine granules (about
2 teaspoons or 14 g)
75 ml ham stock or water
16 parsley stalks, crushed
16 black peppercorns, crushed
½ teaspoon whole mace or a pinch of nutmeg
½ ham stock cube
100 ml fragrant white wine such as Riesling
8 tablespoons chopped parsley

Put the ham in a 650 ml glass or china dish or terrine. Fill a heatproof jug with 120 ml cold water and stir in the aspic or gelatine. Leave for 10 minutes. Heat the stock or water in a small saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes with the parsley stalks, peppercorns, mace or nutmeg and crumbled stock cube. Remove from the heat, add the wine and leave to infuse for five minutes. Heat the hydrated gelatine over boiling water for 6-8 minutes until it has completely melted (or microwave it on high power for 2 minutes). Strain in the fortified stock and stir in the chopped parsley. Pour over the cubed ham, mixing it thoroughly until evenly distributed. Cool, cover, then chill until firm.

SEPTEMBER 2005
RECIPE CLARE FERGUSON
PHOTOGRAPH TARA FISHER