| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Mary-Jane |
Hock of ham required please...can anyone help?Some friends of ours (Antipodeans that live in Aberystwyth) are after a hock of ham for Christmas. Apparently it's quite common to get this from supermarkets in New Zealand and our friends were quite shocked that supermarkets here don't seem to do the same.Anyway, they've asked if one of our "farmy, hippie, foodie internet friends" could help out... 
So could anyone supply such a thing please? |
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| sean |
Do they mean the same thing as what we call a ham hock? Like a lamb shank but more hammy? Or does the term mean something different in the antipodes? | ||
| Mary-Jane |
Gervase and I have just been discussing that. He thinks they mean the lower bit - not the upper bit because the upper bit would be HUGE. |
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| sean |
They should be able to get one from a decent butcher in that case. If they can't I suppose I could buy one from our butcher and post it. | ||
| Nick |
Yeah, but this is Christmas. People routinely have 50lb Turkeys, so either a whole shoulder, or a whole leg might not be massive.
I don't have any, I'm afraid, as we use them pretty quickly. |
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| sean |
These are what I think they're talking about. |
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| Nick |
Yep, that's a hock, and can be had in most butchers and certainly some of the supermarkets here. Just about a meal for two on one. | ||
| snowball |
Morrisons round here sell hocks, but I am sure a butchers, or someone on here would be a better bet. | ||
| Mary-Jane |
Are the hocks the things your carve ham from then? | ||
| sean |
No, it's just the foot end of the ham. | ||
| Nick |
Think ankle. There's 4 on a pig, but only the back ones are of any size. | ||
| vegplot |
This may help. About half way down the page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork |
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| bernie-woman |
You would definitely get one from a good butcher MJ - I bought one about 6 weeks ago - cost me £2.00  and fed 2 of us
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| alice |
I haven't heard anyone mention hocks for years. It was one of my late mum's staples - the over-riding cosideration being that they were cheap She called them bacon hocks and always boiled them. We ate the meat hot, on sandwiches, and she made split pea soup with the stock. My word! That's taken me back
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| Nick |
Spit roasted slowly, they go all chewy and glutinous. Fabulous cheap, underrated bit of porker. | ||
| LynneA |
It's a staple for us. Partly because it's dirt cheap and partly because it does us two main meals and a lunch - at least.
My local butcher sells them, but the last one I did was from the Sillfield Farm shop at Borough Market. I usually par boil it with star anise and ginger, then pot roast (sometimes coated with blackstrap molasses) over plenty of vegetables for the first night, slice it for sandwiches for lunch, then puree the veg from the potroast and make a soup with chunks of ham in it for dinner. If there's any left we get a third dinner of risotto or pasta carbonara. Between 6 & 8 meals (not counting cat treats  ) for under 3 quid - can't go wrong.
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| gil |
That's an amazingly good use of a ham hock, Lynne A.
Really impressed. Must try it. I tend to buy a smoked ham hock (very easy to find, here at any rate), and just make pea, lentil and veg soup with it all : a meal in a bowl. Boil the hock. Leave ovenight to cool, and skim off fat Also soak the dried peas etc over night in a separate bowl Drain peas etc in the morning and cook in fresh water Fry up any veg in the stock pot, herbs spices etc Add peas etc and the ham stock and cook till done (having removed the hambone, and taken all the meat off it and cut it up) And add the cut up ham meat back into the soup. Add the veg that fall to bits, like spuds, later on in the cooking Cook for as many hours as you can bear to wait, stirring to try to avoid it sticking to the base of the pot. But it will and the burnt bits scrape back off and are yummy. One of these dishes that gets better each time you reheat it. |