This was a nineteenth-century innovation first described in Key to the Pantry in 1898. It is delicious. Virginia Gearhart Gray, historian and lecturer on cookbooks, marked this recipe as of special interest and significance in her family collection. Her daughter, Miss Sally Gray, cookbook author and librarian at the College of William and Mary, shared this recipe.
1 whole cooked ham
Brown sugar
1 tablespoon allspice
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup vinegar
2 cups champagne, divided
1/2 cup sugar
Rub a whole cooked ham with brown sugar. Combine allspice, cloves, vinegar, 1 cup champagne, and sugar. Pour over top of ham, and bake slowly at 300° for 1 hour. Add remaining 1 cup champagne. Serve pan juices as gravy for ham.
The Ham Book
