Jambon De la Cabane a Sucre

This is the ham they serve at sugar shacks across Quebec during maple season. A whole ham simmers low and slow in apple juice or fresh maple sap until fork-tender, then gets glazed with a sauce of maple sugar, ground cloves, hot mustard, and plump raisins before a final trip to the oven.

Simmering the ham in apple juice (or maple sap, if you can get it) infuses the meat with a subtle fruity sweetness that goes far deeper than any surface glaze. Three hours of gentle poaching tenderizes even a large cut, and the cooking liquid becomes the base for the raisin sauce.

The raisin sauce pulls together fast. Maple sugar, mustard, cloves, and a cup of that cooking liquid simmer with the raisins until slightly thickened, then everything goes over the ham for the final bake.

Chef Tips

• Keep the simmer gentle, not a rolling boil. High heat toughens the exterior of the ham before the center gets tender.
• Trim the rind after simmering, not before. The rind protects the meat during the long poach and peels off easily when warm.
• Thicken the raisin sauce with browned flour blended into cold water. Browned flour adds a nutty, toasty flavor that regular flour doesn’t.

Variations

• Substitute maple syrup for maple sugar if sugar isn’t available. Use about 1 ½ cups syrup for 2 cups sugar.
• Add a splash of cider vinegar to the raisin sauce for a sharper, tangier glaze.
• Serve cold the next day, thinly sliced, for sandwiches with grainy mustard.