The very finest pork must be used for these hams. Mix together an equal
quantity of powdered saltpetre and brown sugar, and rub it well into
the hams. Next day make a pickle in sufficient quantity to cover them
very well. The proportions of the ingredients are a pound of fine
salt, mixed with a pound of brown sugar, an ounce of black pepper and
an ounce of cloves pounded to powder, a small bit of sal prunella, and
a quart of stale strong beer or porter. Boil them all together, so as
to make a pickle that will bear up an egg. Pour it boiling hot over the
meat, and let it lie in the pickle two weeks, turning it two or three
times every day, and basting or washing it with the liquid. Then take
out the hams, rub them with bran and smoke them for a fortnight. When
done, keep them in a barrel of fine charcoal.
In cooking these hams simmer them slowly for seven or eight hours.
To imitate the shape of the real Westphalia hams, cut some of the
meat off the under side of the thick part, so as to give them a flat
appearance. Do this before you begin to cure them, first loosening the
skin and afterwards sewing it on again.
The ashes in which you keep them must be changed frequently, wiping the
hams when you take them out.