This
year my work gave everybody a ham for Christmas and it got me thinking…what the
heck is the deal with serving ham at Christmas?
I couldn’t let it go, and I
started pondering the origins of the “Holiday ham”. I decided to do a little
research… here’s what I found out.
History
Apparently,
serving ham for Christmas has roots in ancient pagan ritual. Things get a little fuzzy as to
the exact origin because there are several historical references, but here is
the gist of it. In the pre-Christian AD
times, a
wild boar was supposedly the sacrifice of choice to the Norse god Freya, who was associated with harvest and phallic
fertility. When pagans were converted to
Christianity, the porcine meal became linked to St. Stephen, whose feast day is
December 26th, and is often depicted as
serving a boar’s head as an offering. Germanic Pagans also celebrated this festival
called "Yule" in honor of their god Odin, the god of the wild hunt.
Yule boar was a centerpiece of their festivities.(3)
So,
I guess in a nutshell that is how the Christmas Ham was born.
An interesting side note I learned is that the
"Christmas Ham" reportedly had a more sinister use later in history. Possibly
stemming from the anti-semitic attitudes the Catholic Church inherited from the
Pagan Romans. This was during the time of Constantine, when they took over
Christianity. It was said that during this time, the Christmas ham was
popularized by the Catholic Church to test truthful conversion from Judaism to
Christianity. Those who continued to observe Judaism in secret would decline to
eat the Christmas ham, while authentic converts would enjoy the pig meat
without question. Seems crazy right? Well if you are interested in learning
more about that, the info is easily found in almost any encyclopedia or history
book. (1, 2)
In
the 2,000 years since, the Christmas ham became a sweet-salty staple of the
holiday meal. It became even more
popular in the 1950s, served with whole cloves, canned pineapple slices and
bright red maraschino cherries, and glazed in brown sugar. Most every
grandmother has her own stash of secret holiday recipes, and admittedly, my own adaptation of my grandmother’s recipe may not
make use of pineapple slices or maraschino cherries…but the cloves are still
there.
What is Ham?
Ok,
lets take a step back and demystify the ham for a moment. Ham is more than just a piece of pork and it
deserves a little exploration.
First of all, ham generally
comes from the rear haunch of a pig or boar. It is one huge piece of meat and
can be sold with or without the bone. Ham is a part of food traditions in many
countries (think Italian prosciutto), but nowhere are the laws about ham more
strict than in Spain. You’ll know why, if you ever get to taste Spanish ham, or
jamon(spoiler alert, it’s amazing).
In
the U.S. fresh ham—uncooked and uncured—is sold everywhere, but this won’t
taste like “ham.” It will just taste like pork. If you are like me, you
probably want “ham-flavored” ham for Christmas, and for that you have two
options.
Country ham or a baked ham?
Country
ham is dry-cured ham that has been cured with salt and then dried. It can be
smoked or unsmoked. Your other choice for ham for the holidays is a baked ham.
A baked ham has been wet cured (soaked in brine or injected with brine), and
smoked. The brine contains salt, sugar or honey, nitrates or nitrites and other
flavorings/spices. Baked hams can come either fully or partially cooked, make
sure to check the labeling on your ham.
In
my neck of the woods, most of the traditional Christmas ham I have enjoyed have
been baked and served with some sort of glaze. The salty-sweet coating on the
ham imparts extra sweetness to the outside of the ham to complement the salty cured
insides perfectly. Glaze recipes vary greatly and can come from family
traditions, cookbooks and magazines, or can be found on nearly every cooking
site on the Internet this time of year. Experiment with the flavors you enjoy
most and create your own glaze if you dare.
I was curious, so I took informal poll of and
although most of my friends revealed they planned on serving ham this Christmas, but several people also shared some very different
family holiday traditions. The most fun I heard included some Christmas
raviolis, tamales, and even the popular Chinese food for dinner instead of ham.
Personally
for my Christmas dinner this year I have decided to go with the “traditional”
clove studded, glazed and crosshatched style ham that will hopefully give the
Norman Rockwell painting a run for its money. Of course if you do make a ham
like me, remember that whatever recipe you choose, leftovers make great
sandwiches and can make a killer addition to split pea soup!
1.
Roberto F. Chinese food is the spirit of Jewish Christmas. Washington Post,
The [serial online]. 12:Available from: Points of View Reference Center,
Ipswich, MA. Accessed December 23, 2015.
2.
This week in religion history - April 1-7. Canadian Press, The [serial
online]. n.d.;Available from: Points of View Reference Center, Ipswich, MA.
Accessed December 23, 2015.
3. Wilson A. Christmas and Easter. Jamaica: The Culture
[serial online]. January 2004;:12-13. Available from: History Reference Center,
Ipswich, MA. Accessed December 24, 2015.
