Peace on earth - or in this case a piece on ham - is a prime example of a good Scottish culinary ne'erday tradition. There are, in fact, two ways of constructing a ham piece. The first is to purchase your selected ham already prepared, from the supermarket, delicatessen or local butcher. Try different hams. Be cosmopolitan in your choice - Italian, Spanish, English, French - but don't stint on old Ayrshire. Retire to the kitchen with all the ingredients and assemble. This process is relatively fast, simple and extremely tasty.

The second method is more time-consuming but it does have a bonus. Buy traditionally cured Ayrshire ham on the bone, bake it with apples, pineapples, honey and cloves, serve it with silky smooth mashed tattie and brussels sprouts, reserving the leftovers for a delectable ''Scooby Snack'' ham sandwich. Should you still have a surfeit of ham, tatties and sprouts, shoogle everything together in a frying pan and make a meaty bubble and squeak.

Ayrshire ham is cured, not smoked, so the taste of the pig is important. Only the fattest, best fed pigs are selected, so it is probably best to pay a little bit more to ensure the best quality.

Ham in Scotland is a word that denotes raw bacon as well as cured cold meat. However we seem to have adopted an antiseptic approach to displaying these. Rarely do we see full hams wrapped in muslim hanging from the ceilings of butchers' or delicatessens. More often than not, hams are pre-sliced fluorescent pink, moulded slices languishing between layers of sterile paper in a display cabinet.

In certain parts of Europe where cured ham plays a major role in the cuisine they take a different approach. Restaurants, bars and food shop walls are adorned with the cured hin' ends of pigs. Ranging from light golden brown in colour to almost black, tied by their hooves to a nail in the wall with price tags attached, some can be seriously expensive. They are sliced to order on a wooden board with a sharp knife.

Spain, where you'll glimpse most of these dangling delicious pig legs, consumes 27 million of these hams a year in the form of jamon serrano or jamon Iberico. The best is jamon Iberico de bellota, made from Iberian pigs fattened on windfall acorns. It's therefore not surprising the Spanish diet contains more pork than ours.

In fact, pork, while it doesn't figure highly on menus in Scotland, is the world's most popular meat. In China people eat more pork than any other meat and while they don't make a tremendous amount of cured products Char Sui is a commodity we are familiar with.

Since the pig was first domesticated in 7000bc it has played a major role in world cuisine. Suckling pig was a favourite with Germanic tribes long before Roman times, served as the centrepiece at banquets, roasted on a spit with a mouth full of apple. Nowadays it hardly ever graces the dining table. On a recent foray to Spain we found mucho suckling pig on sale at local market, a sight not so easily found in Scotland. It caused great hilarity when ''Los tourists peeliwalli'' took a photo.

Enthusiasm for all things pork-like is at its greatest in Western Europe. Everything is eaten - feet, nose, tail and ears. One dish we had on our Iberian travels was stuffed pigs' feet with snout sauce, and delicious it was, too. However, if we served it here only the most adventurous diners would attempt it. Yet, it wasn't that long ago pigs' trotters were part of our Scottish diet. Perhaps in our efforts to reduce meat to a cellophane-wrapped, chemically-preserved victual, we are missing out on something special and tasty.

honeyed hogmanay ham, leading eventually to cracking pieces

1 4lb ham, larger if necessary

12 cloves

5 tblspn honey

2 tblspns apple juice

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Some hams, depending on supplier, are saltier than others. If heavily salty, the ham will have to be steeped in cold water for at least six hours to remove some of the salinity. At Stravaigin we recently soaked some ham shanks and inadvertantly removed all the flavour, so beware.

After the ham has been steeped, immerse it in fresh water in a large pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer for slightly less than half an hour per pound. Remove the ham and allow to cool slightly before placing on an oven tray. (Remember to keep the stock for the post-Hogmanay lentil soup.)

Cut opposing diagonal incisions into the fat, creating a diamond effect on the skin of the ham. In the middle of 12 of the diamonds insert a clove.

Meanwhile, heat the honey, apple juice and a teaspoon of the cooking water until all are well mixed. Pour the mixture over the ham, sprinkle with pepper and place in a medium oven. Constantly check the ham to ensure it is browning evenly, and baste it repeatedly with its own juices. This will take about 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the ham from the oven and allow it to sit for five minutes before carving.

Served European-style with cabbage and mash, mustard and pickle, this is a taste sensation, more than adequate for ushering in the New Year.

and to drink . . .

Whether you intend to dine on a succulent baked ham or indulge in a triple decker ham sandwich, the wine to sup is an oakey white Rioja. Produced in a bodega that is ultra conservative with a tradition of ageing their wines in oak for an extended period, Marques de Murrieta produce excellent wines. Their Marques de Murrieta Reserva Blanco is made from Viura and Malvasia grapes and has tremendous flavour and character, sought out by many as the epitome of the genre, found by others to taste like tea stewed in oak barrels. Buy a bottle of the 1992 Reserva and whether you're indulging in Ayrshire cured ham, jamon iberico, Parma ham or Virginia ham, pop the cork and try - you will be pleasantly surprised.

l Marques de Murrieta Reserva Blanco is available from Oddbins at around #9.00