Recipe - Jambon Au Foin (Ham With Hay)

1 Lightly smoked ham (4 kg
serves 8). This ham should
not be spiced. It is the
easiest with a ham joint
but any other smoked ham
will do.
Lots of hay (available at
your local petstore or
farmers daughter (in the
latter case watch out for
the needle in the

FOR THE SAUCE
haystack).
1 l Thick cream
8 Shallots
2 tablespoon Strong smooth Dijon mustard
100 g Butter
20 g Flour
3 Egg yolks
12 Fresh tarragon leaves
12 Chives

submitted by: C.de.Swarte@bioledu.RUG.NL
This is a great summer recipe and THE opportunity to do your grocerry
shopping in a pet store.

I found this recipe in a french country cookbook. It is a regional summer
recipe of the Lorraine area (Nothern France between the Champagne and the
Alsace) most famous for the Quiche Loraine and the Moselle wines.

Leave the ham under a trickle of running water for 12 hours, or soak it a
bit longer with frequent changes of water. Attach a piece of string to the
nuckle and immerse the ham in a large two handled pot of cold unsalted
water. Thy the string to the handles to stop the ham from touching the
bottom. Put the pot on a low heat until it reaches boilling point. Drain,
and put the hay in the pot so it encircles the ham. Now put in boiling
water in the pot and leave it to simmer very slowly for a few (try 3)
hours. Now ham will gently take on the flavour of the hay.

Sauce: This sauce will go with any good ham. Let the cream, chopped
shallots and mustard buble gently on a low heat for about 10 minutes. Mix
in the butter, workes in with the flour and stir constantly to cook the
four without letting it boil. Beat the egg yolks in a sauceboat as you
gradually pour in the sauce. Season with salt and pepper and the finely
snipped herbs.

Take the ham out of the pot, drain the hay and strew it on a dish with the
ham on top. Serve whil the hay is still steaming, with the sauce on the
side. Trust me your whole room will smell delicious for days.

This dish goes excellent with noodles (I served it with "Fides", wich is
fat vermicelli with onion and cheese sauce) and fruit, like raspberry's, on
the side. If you can get a hold of it you ought to drink a Gris the Toul
with it. But frankly it's almost impossible to come by. Any other vin gris
will do (avoid the Gris the Gris from the meditarean) or a since it is a
Loraine recipe a Moselle.

Final Tip: Don't eat the hay, unless your a horse ofcourse, it's just their
to smell nice and look pretty !

Casper de Swarte, Groningen, the Netherlands

Recipe Archive 8 July 96

From the 'RECIPEinternet: Recipes from Around the World' recipe list.
Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.