This is everything a ham should be, sticky, sweet, juicy and tender. The freshness from the salsa cuts through the sweetness and keeps the pineapple theme running throughout the whole dish. We are lucky as we have an excellent butcher and we ordered 2 smoked gammons and were not disappointed. Sometimes old school joints taste just as good as the more expensive, all you need is time. This would also be delicious served cold, we ate ours warm with some new potatoes which went really well with the fresh zesty salsa. Our recipe was based on a recipe from delicious magazine.

Ingredients

• 1.5kg smoked or unsmoked gammon
• 1 litre fresh pineapple juice
• 3 star anise
• 100g soft light brown sugar

For the pickled pineapple salsa

• 1 medium ripe pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm pieces
• Juice 4 limes, zest 1
• 1 tbsp golden caster sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 small bunch fresh coriander, chopped
• 1 small bunch fresh mint, chopped
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped

Method

1. Fill a large pan or stockpot with cold water, add the gammon and set over a high heat. Bring to the boil, then drain and rinse off the gammon (this removes some of the saltiness).
2. Rinse the pan out, then return the gammon to it. Add 500ml of the pineapple juice, then top up with water to cover the gammon completely. Add 2 of the star anise, then put the pan back over a high heat. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cook for 2 hours. Remove the ham and place onto a board and leave until cool enough to handle.
3. Meanwhile, put the remaining pineapple juice and star anise in a heavy-based pan with the sugar. Heat gently to melt the sugar, then bring the liquid up to a rapid boil and reduce for 15-20 minutes to form a thick, sticky glaze. Transfer to a bowl. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7.
4. Use a sharp knife to peel the skin off the ham, leaving on as much of the fat as possible. Score the fat diagonally in two directions to create diamond shapes, then thickly brush over the glaze. Reserve any leftover glaze for drizzling over.
5. Line a roasting tin with 2 layers of foil, then add the ham. Roast for 20-30 minutes, basting occasionally with the glaze, until the top of the ham is just beginning to char.
6. To make the pineapple salsa, put the pineapple in a glass bowl. Add the  lime juice and zest, sugar, salt and fish sauce. Toss to combine, then chill for 20 minutes or up to 3 hours, tossing occasionally to coat everything
7. Drain off most of the liquid from the salsa, then toss through the herbs and chopped chilli. Thickly slice the ham and serve with the salsa and boiled new potatoes.