Lord Craven'S How To Boyle A Gammon Of Bacon

This recipe comes from Lady Craven’s Receipt Book, compiled between 1702 and 1704 at Coombe Abbey, England, and attributed to Lord Craven. The manuscript offers a fascinating insight into early 18th-century English aristocratic life, where cookery was both an art and a reflection of social networks. Recipes are often attributed, denoting exchanges and influences among the gentry. Salting, boiling, and flavoring with simple aromatics like hay or spices were common practices when preserving and preparing meats was essential for households. The inclusion of hay in the boiling liquid is a charming detail from period culinary practice, believed to impart subtle flavor and perhaps to mask or soften the saltiness of preserved meats. Clove-studding and peppering provided both visual flourish and aromatic complexity.

In the early 1700s, this recipe would have been prepared with a large iron or copper cauldron or kettle, suspended over an open hearth or set upon a grate. The cook would use heavy tongs or forks for handling the gammon. Clean hay might be gathered from a local farm or kitchen garden. Knives would be used for skinning, and mortars and pestles for grinding pepper, while the cloves (expensive imported spice) would be studded by hand into the cooked meat.