Ham 'n Hay

To boil a Ham. Lay your ham in cold water for two hours, wash it clean, and tie it up in clean hay; put it into fresh water, boil it very slow for one hour, and then very briskly for an hour and a half more. Take it up in the hay and let it lie in til cold, then rub the rind with a clean piece of flannel.
from: E. Smith's The Compleat Housewife, 1727.

Lay at the bottom of the ham-boiler a bed of nice fresh hay, which will greatly improve the flavor.
from: Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book. Phila: 1857

To Boil Ham. Henderson, Mary. Practical Cooking and Dinner Giving. NY: 1877

Virginia Ham pictures
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