Cumbria Air Dried ham with spiced pickled damsons

Submitted by Steven Doherty from The Punchbowl Inn at Crosthwaite. Stephen was born in Manchester but spent his formative years on the West coast of Lancashire. After 2 years at Southport catering college he moved to London as an apprentice at the Savoy. In 1978 he joined Albert Roux as a Commis Chef at Le Gavroche and eventually became Head Chef there.

After 4 years in that position he became Group Executive Chef for Roux Restaurants Ltd and during that time he opened a number of hotels, culminating in the opening of the 5 star Grand Hotel in Amsterdam. In 1993 he returned to England and became manager of The Brown Horse at Winster. 18 months later he, and his wife Marjorie, became part owners of The Punchbowl at Crosthwaite.

Since then the pub has been awarded accolades such as Life Magazine's "Lake District pub of the year", 2 AA rosettes and a "Red Bib" from the Michelin guide. In 1997 they were voted "Pub operators of the year" by Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine.

Ingredients

• 1kg damsons
• 450gm brown sugar
• 300ml red wine
• 200ml red wine vinegar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 8 cloves
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon allspice berries
• 5cm fresh root ginger peeled and sliced

Prick each damson and place in a pan on the top of the stove.

Heat together the sugar, vinegar and red wine and dissolve.

Pour this syrup over the damsons and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove the fruit from the pan.

Add the remainder of the ingredients to the syrup and simmer together for a further 10 minutes.

Sieve the syrup.

Place back on the heat and simmer again reducing the quantity by half.

Put the damsons into sterilized jars and pour the syrup over them.

Wrap the jars in a cloth and place in a pan of water and boil for 10 minutes.

Leave to cool and keep in a dark place for 1 month.

By using the damsons as a chutney or relish with nothing more complicated than sliced Air Dried Ham, fresh brown bread, and perhaps a little olive oil, you can very quickly create a simple meal with a superb flavour and a real Mediterranean feel. 

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