This is a bit different, very ‘on-trend’ because of the jelly, positively the ‘last thing, dahling’ and super impressive.

The croutons are essential – somehow you need the crunchiness of them to balance the jelly.

About the sharp pickled cucumber sauce, aka sauce gribiche… and two revealing quotes

Instead of serving this jellied ham with the creamy and sharp, cheat’s version of gribiche sauce you could serve it with piccalilli sauce. But why? A gribiche sauce is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. It’s a bit of a faff to make ‘correctly’ (emulsify hard-boiled egg yolks with oil and mustard), but this cheats’ approach, which mixes mayonnaise with spring onions, cornichons, capers, parsley and mustard is awfully good – great also with asparagus.

“Sauce gribiche is a very classic sauce, and a great way to add layers of flavour on to anything, from fish and meat to vegetables. It basically combines all of the best parts of an egg mayonnaise in a sauce — body, acidity, umami. To make it, chop eggs, capers, cornichons, parsley and shallots and mix with mayonnaise. A blank canvas like poached chicken or fish works very well with it, but so do more robust flavours like crab. Asparagus, which is almost in season, also makes for a delicious pairing.”

Roberta Hall-McCarron, chef-owner of The Little Chartroom, quoted in The Financial Times

“Classic sauce gribiche is the zippy cousin to mayonnaise, one of the six “sauces mères” at the heart of traditional French cuisine. Flavored with Dijon mustard and wine vinegar and studded with hard-boiled egg, cornichons, capers, and parsley, this version takes cues from the great Jacques Pépin and the Larousse Gastronomique—the definitive tome of French food and drink. A sort of continental sister to tartare sauce, this piquant condiment has the power to brighten and elevate a wide range of dishes, from steamed asparagus to fried fish to chicken cordon bleu. Anchovy is a non-traditional (but delicious) addition.”

From Saveur.com

Recipe for sparkling jellied ham with creamy and sharp pickled cucumber sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp mushroom ketchup
• 240 ml/½ pint/1 cup of water
• 4 leaves of gelatine
• About six spring onions
• 400g/14 oz piece of ham (you could use ham hock off the bone but this looks more impressive with sharp cubes. For an alternative recipe using ham hock off the bone follow this link). Obviously take off the fat and rind first.
• 1 x cornichon
• 25g/1 oz bunch of parsley
• 2 tbsps capers (not the type in brine – if in brine rinse and soak in milk for 30 minutes, then rinse)
• 120ml/½ cup thick Greek yoghurt, or mayonnaise
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• handful of croutons – homemade is best, go here for how to make them

Method

1. Soak the gelatine in a bath of cold, iced water
2. Meanwhile boil the water and add the mushroom ketchup
3. Take the gelatine leaves out of their cold bath, and squeeze out. Add to the hot mushroom stock. Stir to dissolve. Put somewhere to cool.
4. Dice the ham and cut the cornichon
5. Mix the shallot, 1 tbsp of the capers, and half the cornichon in a bowl and snip over the parsley, reserving some for garnish and some for the sauce. Using kitchen scissors also snip in the spring onions including a cm/½” or so of the green stem.
6. Add to a loaf tin (or you can make this in individual ramekins). Pour over the cooled jelly. Leave to set for about two hours.
7. Mix the rest of the capers and cornichon (leaving a little for garnish), some of the parsley and the mustard, with the yoghurt or mayonnaise.
8. Unmould the terrine (upend on a board and shake like mad…loosen with a knife if necessary). Garnish with the rest of the reserved parsley.
9. Serve together with the yoghurt sauce and the croutons.