Delia Smith blackened gammon is a gammon joint roasted with its skin on, brushed with black treacle and salt so it turns to crackling. It serves 6 with a citrus, rum and raisin sauce. You roast it for 25 minutes at 240°C, then 1¾ to 2 hours more at 180°C, and rest it for 30 minutes.
This gammon is on page 130 of her Winter Collection (1995), and her website has the same recipe word for word. Modern curing means the joint needs no soaking, she says, so it goes straight into a hot oven and carves very easily. That makes it quite unlike her whole Christmas gammon, which is baked in foil after a soak.
On her Sunday lunch timetable in the same book, the gammon goes in at 9.45 am and comes out at 12.10 pm. The oven goes up to 220°C at noon, and the roast potatoes go in at 12.10 pm. Her spiced sautéed red cabbage is cooked in the morning, then reheated.
Delia Smith Treacle Gammon with Rum and Raisin Sauce
A gammon joint roasted skin-up until its treacle-brushed skin turns black and crisp, with a cold orange, lime, rum and raisin sauce.
6
servings20
minutes2
hours25
minutes650
kcalIngredients
- For the gammon:
1 prime gammon joint, 2.25kg (5 lb), smoked or unsmoked
1 level tablespoon black treacle
sea salt crystals
- For the citrus, rum and raisin sauce:
1 large juicy orange
zest and juice of 1 lime
75ml dark rum
75g raisins
1 slightly rounded teaspoon arrowroot
Directions
- Score: Unwrap the gammon and dry the skin well with kitchen paper. Score the skin in a criss-cross pattern of 1cm diamonds, using just the tip of a very sharp knife.
- Dry: Set the gammon on a plate and leave it uncovered at the bottom of the fridge, for 2 or 3 days if you can.
- Zest: For the sauce, peel the orange zest thinly with a potato peeler, leaving the pith behind, and cut it into needle-thin strips. Finely grate the lime zest, then squeeze the juice from the lime and the orange.
- Sauce: Put all the sauce ingredients except the arrowroot in a saucepan, then whisk in the arrowroot. Whisk over a gentle heat until it just simmers, then take it off the heat. Cool it, pour it into a serving dish, cover and chill.
- Treacle: Heat the oven to 240°C, gas mark 9. Warm the treacle a little if it is very cold, then brush it lightly over all the diamonds of skin. Sprinkle on the salt crystals and press them well in.
- Roast: Stand the gammon skin-side up in a solid shallow roasting tin, propped with wedges of foil if needed. Give it 25 minutes in the hot oven. Then turn the oven down to 180°C, gas mark 4. Roast it for a further 105 to 120 minutes, until a skewer slides easily all the way through.
- Rest: Cover the gammon with foil and rest it in a warm place for at least 30 minutes. Carve it into slices, give everyone some crackling, and spoon over the cold sauce.
Notes
- Make the sauce the day before if you can, so the raisins have time to plump up.
- The 2 or 3 days of drying in the fridge are not counted in the times above.
FAQs
Should the gammon be smoked or unsmoked?
Either works, because Delia’s 1995 recipe asks for a prime gammon joint, smoked or unsmoked. Her Pork book (2004) uses a smoked collar of bacon for the same method, so a smoky joint suits it well.
Why dry the skin in the fridge first?
Leaving the scored gammon uncovered in the fridge lets the skin go on drying, and drier skin makes better crackling, Delia explains. Her book asks for 2 to 3 days when you can manage it. A shorter spell still helps, though that last part is my own view.
Can I use molasses instead of black treacle?
Yes, molasses works too, because Delia’s 2009 Christmas version of this joint asks for molasses or black treacle. That version uses 1 tablespoon, the same amount as the level tablespoon here.
How do I know the sauce is ready?
The sauce for this gammon is ready when it changes from cloudy to clear, which happens as soon as it starts to simmer. Lift the pan off the heat at that point and let it cool before it goes into the fridge.
How long does a bigger or smaller joint take?
For a bigger or smaller joint, allow 25 minutes per 450g of meat in total, the rule from her 2009 Christmas book. That total includes the first 25 minutes at 240°C, and the skewer test still tells you when it is done.
Can I use a collar of bacon instead?
Yes, a 2.25kg collar of bacon is the joint Delia cooks this way every Christmas Eve, on page 131 of Delia’s Happy Christmas (2009). It serves 4 with leftovers for the holiday, or 12 people in one go, and the timings stay the same.
She serves it with traditional braised red cabbage and Delia’s Cumberland sauce. That book says the sauce is always served at room temperature.
