Battered/Breaded Whole Ham?

[SnorterLuster]

I am trying to locate a receipe for my mother. We were discussing baking a ham and she mentioned that when her mom baked a ham, she made a batter that was highly spiced that she put over the entire ham. The batter was only used to hold the spices. When the ham was done, the baked batter was removed from the ham and discarded.

She was lamenting that she had never been able to duplicate the technique. She's 81 years old, so the technique had to have been in use 75 years ago. Does anyone have any idea what kind of batter might have been made up and what kind of spices may have been use?

I appreciate any help you might give me.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[expatgirl]

Dear SnorterLuster,

It might make a difference knowing where she is from or where she was from way back when as it might be an ethnic recipe------German for instance. That might help narrow the search. Welcome aboard, by the way!!

 

[SnorterLuster]

Grandma was from an English/Scot-Irish heritage. Her people came to Oklahoma during the land run from the Tennessee and Kentucky area. They homesteaded in an area populated by Irish Catholics so it is possible that she learned to cook it from her mother-in-law.

Hope that helps. I searched all over the internet and couldn't find a thing on preparing a ham using a batter to seal the spices in.

 

[Uncle Bob]

That far back a ham was not what most folks think of as ham today..Obviously it would have not been a ham cured by todays methods... It was probably brined, salt cured, smoked, and dried....Not unlike dry cured hams of today found in Virginia, Tenn. Kentucky etc.

I did find some information in an old cook book that might interest you...

After the ham was cooked (boiled) Pull off the skin carefully, and preserve it as whole as you can. It will make a good covering to keep the ham moist....
then rub some bread crumbs through a sieve or use grated bread to cover it.
I know this is after the fact of cooking as your mother describe a "before" method...but I found this interesting...hope you do too!!

 

[SnorterLuster]

That far back a ham was not what most folks think of as ham today..Obviously it would have not been a ham cured by todays methods... It was probably brined, salt cured, smoked, and dried....Not unlike dry cured hams of today found in Virginia, Tenn. Kentucky etc.

Mother said that now that you mentioned that, it may have been the old smoked hams that were fixed that way. She said that her mom quit cooking them in that manner in the late 1940s. Probably about the time modern hams became widely available. It also reminded her that the battered ham was baked in a pan with about 1" of milk in the pan.

May be just one of those lost techniques that died out in recent times.

 

[Uncle Bob]

The boil and bake method of cooking dry cured hams is still a winner today!!
I have one in the fridge now....that I use for ham and red-eye gravy...and seasoning..I really crave the flavor...

The "batter" still has me perplexed...maybe your mother will remember some other clues....

 

[cjs]

You all are getting me to thinking about this - I have an old (~1928) Piggly Wiggly recipe book I'll go look for and see if anything like this is mentioned.