Julskinka (Swedish Christmas Ham)

Source: Martin James' International Recipes

The main dish served on Christmas Eve is the "julskinka", the traditional Christmas ham. Usually, a ham should last at least for a week and appear at almost all meals between Christmas Eve and New Years Day.

3-5 kg salt-cured fresh ham (do NOT use dried cured ham)
1 egg
2 tablespoons mustard
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs

Depending upon the method of salt curing it might be necessary to leave the ham overnight covered with water to desalt it.

Preheat the oven to 125 degrees C (240 degrees F). Insert an oven thermometer in the thickest part of the ham. Leave it in the oven until the temperature reaches 75 degrees C (167 degrees F).

Remove the rind carefully and as much of the fat as you like. (With less fat left it is healthier but drier!)

Heat the oven to 225 degrees C (450 degrees F).

Mix egg, mustard and sugar.

Place the ham on a roasting-pan, cover it with the mixture and sift the breadcrumbs over if. They should stick to the egg-mustard mixture.

Bake the ham for 10 minutes in the oven. When ready, it should have a golden colour with a few deep brown but no black patches. If you're not going to use it as the centrepiece on the buffet table you can serve it together with potatoes, red cabbages, mustard and stewed and mashed apples.