/getattachment/41de4fd0-b01c-48fa-9bd3-f8859bff1dfd/Naartjie-Marmalade-Glazed-Gammon.aspx

Naartjie Marmalade Glazed Gammon Recipe

Treat your Christmas gammon to this tangy naartjie marmalade glaze which tastes as good as it looks.

Difficulty

Advanced

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cooking Time

3 hours

Serves

16-20

Recipe Ingredients

  • 1 large 2.5-3 kg SPAR uncooked gammon
  • 1 naartjie, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 carrots, chopped
  • 2 celery sticks, chopped
  • 2 leeks, cleaned and chopped
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns, lightly crushed
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
  • 1 cinnamon stick, broken into 2-3 pieces
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 cup ( 250 ml) Naartjie marmalade ( recipe below)
  • 1 naartjie, sliced
  • 10-12 cloves

Naartjie Marmalade

  • 1 kg naartjies ( about 8 to 10 medium)
  • 4 cups ( 1 litre) water
  • 4 cups ( 800 g) sugar

Recipe Method

  1. Place the gammon, with the string cover still on, into a large saucepan.
  2. Add the chopped naartjie, vegetables, pepper, coriander, cinnamon and bay to the pan.
  3. Add enough cold water to cover the gammon. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for roughly 25 minutes per kg of gammon.
  4. Drain, discarding the vegetables and spices, and allow to cool.
  5. Preheat your oven to 180C.
  6. Remove the string cover and gently cut the skin off the gammon, leaving the thick layer of fat over the top.
  7. Transfer to a large roasting dish and pour a little of the cooking stock into the dish.
  8. Liberally brush the gammon all over with marmalade. Overlap naartjie slices on top of the gammon, securing each with some cloves.
  9. Bake for 30-40 minutes, basting with more marmalade and pan juices every ten minutes, until the gammon is golden and sticky. Allow to rest for 20 minutes before serving.

NAARTJIE MARMALADE

PREP TIME: 20 minutes
TOTAL COOKING TIME: 90 minutes
  1. Wash and scrub the naartjies.
  2. Use a vegetable peeler to peel off the zest in strips, taking care not to include too much of the white pith.
  3. Cut the strips into slivers.
  4. Top and tail the naartjies. Cut off all the pith and then segment the fruit, removing all off the pithy core and membranes. Reserve the seeds and add the flesh and juice to the zest strips in a saucepan. Cover with the water.
  5. Make a pectin bag by placing the seeds into a bag fashioned from muslin cloth or a clean kitchen towel.
  6. If the naartjies have too few pips, include the pips, flesh and juice from 2 lemons.
  7. Place the pectin bag into the saucepan and secure to the pot handle if possible.
  8. Bring to a brisk boil over moderate heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a splash of water if too much of the water evaporates from the boil and the peels start sticking to the bottom of the pan.
  9. Remove from the heat, set aside the pith bundle and stir in all the sugar.
  10. Rest the mixture for 30 minutes.
  11. Squeeze the pectin bag to extract any remaining pectin. Add this pectin to the saucepan.
  12. Set the saucepan over moderate heat and slowly bring to a boil.
  13. The marmalade may take anything from 25-35 minutes to set.
  14. Set a small plate in the freezer.
  15. After 20 minutes you should start testing if your marmalade has set ( 103 C if using a sugar thermometer).
  16. Spoon a small amount onto the chilled plate. If it spreads out and thins immediately, it isn’t ready. It should hold its shape, almost like an egg yolk. Push against it with your finger, if it wrinkles, it is ready.
  17. Store, refrigerated, in a sterilised jar.

Hints & Tips


Replace the naartjie marmalade with ready-made orange marmalade.
Gammon is equally delicious served hot or cold and can be made days ahead of your event. Don’t discard the liquid that the gammon was cooked in, reserve and freeze it in batches. It is a superb stock for future use in soups, stews and sauces.