Melon and ham

Serves 4

(Jason Lowe)

This classic restaurant dish would have been on almost every menu in the late Seventies and Eighties and it was traditionally viewed as a safe choice.

But in a simple dish like this with only two ingredients, both must be of impeccable quality for it to work. I used a piece of vacuum-packed ham that's been in my fridge since my trip to the Douro Valley in Portugal in June.

It was a cut from the shoulder and smoked at a fairly high temperature and it came from the local butcher who cures and smokes every part of the pig so it was more or less cooked.

It worked a treat with a succulent Charentais melon. I'm not going to give you a recipe for this dish, but just encourage you to shop a bit harder for some really good ham and a decent melon – that's it.