Ham for Thanksgiving, what's so wrong with that?
My family loves ham, but no one ever talks about ham on Thanksgiving. Why not? Why so much pig-hatred?
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11 Comments:
The turkey is the incumbent Thanksgiving meal. As such, s/he is very hard to unseat. Perhaps there's some way to work a ham into the vaunted turducken?
Adam Kuban at 6:57PM on 11/20/06
Doesn't ham normally serve a major role at Christmas? (Wikipedia, unsurprisingly, has an entry on it.)
Regardless - I would imagine that since I've been to a number of vegetarian Thanksgivings, that replacing the meat would not be the end of the world. You just need some open-minded pilgrims.
Dan Dickinson at 9:21PM on 11/20/06
I grew up in North Carolina and we always had turkey AND country ham for Thanksgiving. I don't know if this is regional tradition or not, but I recommend it.
Alaina Browne at 10:19AM on 11/21/06
For me, Thanksgiving is all about the accessories (cranberries, stuffing, sweet potatoes, pie), so I could probably live without the turkey. Still, I so rarely make a whole turkey that I am glad we have a holiday that calls for it. Ham should share the holiday wealth; it's already got Christmas.
capndesign at 3:26PM on 11/22/06
I bet the turkeys think it would be all right!
gustoct at 8:48PM on 11/22/06
Pig deserves a holiday of its own! Imagine the joyous challenge of creating an all-pork menu...bacon praline cheesecake, anyone?
Cathy at 10:45AM on 11/26/06
Cathy: I went to an all-bacon Halloween party: "Bacoween." There was bacon in EVERYTHING. Even "bacon brittle": peanut brittle made with bacon grease.
Adam Kuban at 3:26PM on 11/27/06
I went to a Thanksgiving dinner in Philly this year where they served a ham, not Turkey. It just wasn't the same. I think the main problem is with no Turkey, you don't get turkey gravy -- the great unifier.
SoundBitesNYC at 3:38PM on 11/27/06
We do a ham along side turkey every year and every holiday, but our guest list runs in the 20's so after you have made 2 turkeys it is best to move on, and offer variety. On Christmas it is usually a turkey a goose and a ham. Easter is turkey, lamb, and ham. Thanksgiving remains turkey-centric though.
Adam I have heard and been told by butchers I have ordered them from, that there is a version of turducken in a boned suckling pig as well as a version that puts all that in veal but as far as experience goes I have only gotten as far as the turkey level
augieland at 5:14PM on 11/27/06
Augie: Welcome to Serious Eats! Thanks for joining. Your Thanksgiving sounds great. Lucky guests to have a choice of turkey, ham, or both.
I had a friend in college whose mom was Brazilian. And moms told us about a holiday meal that her family would do that entailed something like what you describe, with a veal at the top end and something like a Cornish game hen at the bottom of the ladder.
Adam Kuban at 1:50PM on 11/29/06
Based on my personal experience (a handful of Tennessee Thanksgivings), a proper southern Thanksgiving features both turkey and country ham. Bottom line, a southern Thanksgiving has alot of different food trays and plates, period, so it makes sense that there would be at least two meats, as well. And guess what, the ham is the meat you'll want more for leftovers meals over the remainder of the Thanksgiving weekend.
Sandro at 2:37PM on 11/29/06