Classic cooking: Christmas ham
Fiona Smith
Ham comes into its own at Christmas, and a glazed ham makes an impressive centrepiece for just about any occasion. It’s practical too, and glazing a ham is really quite easy. It’s delicious when served straight from the oven along with mustard, chutneys and bread.
1 cooked ham
2 tablespoons whole seed mustard
¼ cup julienned or finely
grated ginger
1 cup dark cane or brown sugar
330mls dark beer such as Guinness or Monteith’s Black Beer
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Carefully slice beneath the rind of the ham at the base and then slide your fingers between the ham rind and the fat layer .  The rind will come away quite easily but can tear so work slowly, gently forcing your fingertips between layers. This can be done with a small knife, but may result in an uneven, cut-up surface. You need to retain as much fat on the ham as possible for scoring.
The ham rind can be stored in the freezer and used to flavour casseroles, soups and ragoûts; discard the rind at the end of cooking. It can also be used to cover the breast of a turkey during cooking to keep it moist and tasty.
Using a sharp knife, score the fat in diagonal lines 3cm apart. Then repeat from the other side of the ham to create a diamond pattern .
Place the ham in a large baking dish. In a bowl combine the mustard, ginger and sugar with just enough of the beer to form a thick paste and set aside.
Pour the remaining beer over the ham  then place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Baste with the beer halfway through.
 Remove the ham from the oven and carefully smear the scored fat all over with the sugar paste. Return to the oven and bake for a further 30 minutes or until golden, basting halfway through.
Remove ham from oven and place on a ham stand on a platter. Cut a triangular wedge out of the top of the ham close to the knuckle and parallel to the platter. If you have a Champagne ham like the one pictured (with bones removed apart from the knuckle), you can place it on a platter and carve it from the base up.
 Remove the wedge from the ham and begin carving thin slices towards the bone, removing slices as you go.
Working down the ham, ensure you cut all the way around the bone, always slicing parallel to the plate.
Other glaze ideas
Substitute the beer with orange juice and then add 2 teaspoons of ground cardamom seeds to the paste.
Substitute the beer with apple juice or apple cider and glaze with 1 cup of apple syrup that has been combined with 2 tablespoons of whole-seed mustard. 
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