Commentary
Easter Ham: Dueling Legends
Lebanon — Christian holidays are a mixed bag of Biblical tradition and pagan rituals. For the most part, I don’t get too concerned about that sort of thing. I grew up with both Santa and baby Jesus as key figures in the Christmas story and the resurrection of Easter was told to me in tandem with tales of an egg-hiding rabbit. This flirtation with paganism has not, so far, caused me to sacrificing any goats or pray to the goddess of the whippoorwills.
One aspect of holidays that are particularly interesting to me is the food, of course. Easter celebrations, for instance, usually have either lamb or ham at the center of the table. We were always a ham family when I was growing up. Lamb was a bit too exotic for us. I’ve continued that tradition with my own family, so an Easter ham will be our entrée on Sunday and we’ll all have ham sandwiches in our lunches a good part of the rest of the week.
Our ham will come from a locally raised Indiana hog and it will be smoked by the good folks at Goose the Market in Indianapolis. The great thing about a smoked ham is that you don’t have to do much — just warm it up. I’ll be making a sweet and spicy Maple Chipotle Glaze using maple syrup from Burton Mapleview Farm in Medora, Ind., home of the National Maple Syrup Festival. You should make plans to go next year — always the first two weekends in March.
So how did ham become one of the Easter meal mainstays? There are competing legends — one involving sex, tragedy and revenge and the another not nearly as salacious. Let’s get the boring one out of the way. Back in the day, hogs were butchered in the fall and the meat had to cure during the winter. Around Easter, the hams were ready so that is what was served for the Easter celebration. Not much excitement there.
The other story is a wild one. Here is the sort version. According to ancient folklore, a woman named Ishtar became pregnant, claiming the father of her child was a sunbeam. She declared herself a goddess and named her little son of a sunbeam Tammuz. He grew up to be a great hunter and one day, while on a hunt, Tammuz encountered a wild pig who ate him. Did you get that? The pig ate Tammuz, not the other way around.
Ishtar, as you might imagine, was devastated, and to commemorate the anniversary of her son’s death, she established an annual 40-day period during which nobody could eat meat. At the end of the 40 days, she commanded everyone to eat the very beast that had eaten her son. Ishtar eventually became known as Easter; there’s a miraculous birth involved, the 40 days is known as Lent, and each year Tammuz is “resurrected” as we consume the beast that consumed him.
Told you it was a wild story.
For some Easter has tremendous religious significance and for others it is a time to celebrate the first signs of spring. For us, it is both. Regardless into which category you fall, you’ve got to eat something on Sunday and, unless pork is off limits to you, ham is a pretty good choice. If you plan to have a ham, you might want to try this Chipotle Maple Glaze.
Chipotle Maple Glaze
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 chopped chipotle peppers
1 tablespoon of adobe sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
This glaze should be poured or brushed on the last 20 minutes of your ham’s warming time. Chipotle chilies can be found canned in the Mexican good isle of most grocery stores. They come in adobe sauce.
Place all ingredients in a medium sauce pan, stir with a whisk and bring to a simmer. Remove ham from the oven and turn over up to 400 degrees. Pour or brush on the glaze. Place back in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the ham from the oven and let stand for about 5 minutes.
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