That Easter Tradition A Good Meaty Ham

Ham has always been the meat of choice on almost every Easter table. This centuries old tradition has given ham lovers and home chefs good memories of a delicate salty flavor and an easy cook. It is the perfect dish for the holiday , each slice bringing joy.

Kim Severson wrote about this classic in today's New York Times Food section. Ms. Severson, a southerner herself, is no stranger to this cut of pork. Ham is also served at Christmastime, usually as the main course at the holiday dinner , along with being at baptisms, graduations and funerals. Right now sales are up because of the Easter season. The ham that we're used to is the  spiralized kind, one that is precooked and precut. It's different from fresh ham which is an uncooked part of a pig's rear leg.It's rubbed in  salt and a little spice, then smoked over wood and hung for several months to age. A spiralized ham is is soaked or injected with brine, spice and sugar. There are also curing agents added and then it's smoked a little.It's a quick process that only take four days which makes a tad more popular than the country style.Sales of them have been going up since 2017, even though their prices have also gone up. The price increase is due to American companies sending a lot of hams to Canada and Mexico.

What should a home chef look for in a ham? Check the amount of water listed on the can.Brine,a salty water mix is injected into the meat and can affect its' taste and texture. Top of the line ones are simply labelled "ham" and have to be 20.5 per cent protein by weight. Another classification is one  with "natural juices" listed. It's a good bet that around seven to nine percent of the cut is water. Most supermarket hams are labelled "hams with water added" which means that it has up to ten percent more water. Keep in mind that hams like this can turn spongy and don't do well on a spiralizing machine. Another point is that all spiralized hams have some kind of sweet glaze. The marriage of the meat and sugar is over a century old. Early recipes such as the one from the 1898 Delmonico Cookbook features a scored ham with powdered sugar. Another recipe from around 1940, found in The Boston Cooking - School Cookbook has a ham recipe that calls for frosting it with royal icing! Then there's the classic pineapple and cherry held by cloves stuck in the ham. This first started in 1931 with Irma Rombauer's first edition of "The Joy Of Cooking". The best bet is a rub with ginger ale and brown sugar. You can use pineapple too which breaks down the meat's collagen, making it easier to digest.

A good Easter dinner starts with a good ham. There's is nothing quite like a slice of silky pink meat, perfectly seasoned with spices and sweet. What a wonderful way to celebrate a Spring holiday.

Porchetta Season.

Early summer in Italy is always magical.There are nectarine colored sunsets, lazy nights, drinking Prosecco in outdoor cafes. and the aroma of food, ever present. It is also the time of food festivals throughout the Republic , where natives and tourists can sample the most delicious street fare. One of them, porchetta, is being celebrated right now.

Julia Moskin not only got to write about it in today's New York Times Food section but also got to visit Umbria where the festival is held and savored this most amazing dish.Porchetta originated in Rome but is also found in other regions throughout Italy and on the island of Sardinia. It is a popular dish , usually sold at Italian street fairs or sagras. Porchetta is almost a religion, going deep both in the Umbrian heritage and psyche,A new meat supplier there, Etrusco is producing the  meat used for it the way it was produced during an earlier generation's day with bigger than average pigs and cows.This means larger cuts with a more flavorful taste.Etrusco's founder ,Valentino Gerbi who is also a butcher,  believes in embracing the peasant traditions of "no compromises , no shortcuts" as he puts it. Many other farmers are also following suite.The pigs are grazing  out doors, eating corn and barley  instead of bone meal along with taking no antibiotics or supplements avers another farmer, Ramon Rustico.He also states that people want to eat cebu vero - real food that is hearty and satisifying both in taste and proportion.. The pigs, used for porchetta  are descended from the British strain ,Large White. They're known for their particularly large and muscular legs which are used in making prosciutto.

What is porchetta exactly?. It is a deboned and gutted pig that has been stuffed with garlic and herbs.It is then roasted in its' skin until it is crunchy , juicy and , as Ms, Moskin puts it, insanely aromatic.The dish is not for the squeamish or animal lovers.The head is left on,which gives it the appearance of a pig  in a brown sleeping bag.It is then sliced  and either stuffed into crusty rolls or between slabs of equally aromatic foccaccia. Every slice is magical, with spirals of tender meat, lush fat and crunchy cracklings.The goal of eating it is to get all three textures in every bite.Most Italians use shallots and garlic along with salt and pepper. It's finished with a golden dusting of fennel pollen. Porchetta can be made in an American kitchen.It is labor intensive because all the bones (namely about 200 of them, with just 32 for the ribs) have to be removed. Home chef's don't need any surgical skills, just patience, and possibly help doing this.Ms. Moskin gives a recipe that is relatively easy to follow. She uses the easier to handle whole bone on with skin pork shoulder..It does call for fennel pollen which is easy to get over the internet and at some specialty stores.(although it grows wild in Northern California so it's easy to harvest and bring home).If not, use minced fresh rosemary and garlic for flavoring. Serve on focaccia or better yet, kaiser rolls.

Porchetta is one of those heavenly Italian creations that leave foodies and gourmands wanting more. It is easy to replicate that blend of crunch , juice and aroma. Make it , instead of barbecue for a true taste of Italy in early summer.

Where The Wild Things Are Eaten

There's A club in New York that has attracted adventurers and adventurous eaters for decades.The meats aren't your usual roast beef and chicken.They"re a bit more gamier, in fact they're downright wild.It's the famed Explorer's Club and it' been serving up some strange beasts for interesting feasts. Stephen Rex Brown wrote about it in today's New York Daily News(again the Daily News has some really good food articles).It an annual dinner that has attracted some of the last century's more famous explorer's.Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Sir Edmund Hillary This year Amazon founder ,Jeff Bezos and the edge of space skydiver, Felix Baumgartner will be honored. However it's the food that will shine.In past years it was a maple glazed hog mask or the face of the pig,along with python patties with bacon on top.For seafood adventurists the club served up jellyfish slivers in a white soy sauce.Turtle cakes with capers remoulade has also been given out.Desserts usually have the added decoration of mealworms and crickets. The club started in 1903 when navigating through most sit down dinners was an adventure.The club was founded by professionals dedicated To the exp,oration of Earth, the oceans and outer space.The first group included early Arctic explorer's,Adolphus Greeley and David Brainard.Teddy Roosevelt and Prince Albert I of Monaco were honorary members..The club has always been known for it's strange dinners.This year a few dozen pounds of alligators will be used as well as some exotic fungi.The dinner became a yearly fixture in the 1930s when explorer's brought back well preserved mammoth meat from Siberia.Since then every kind of meat, from ostrich to tarantula has been served.It's been made into such mundane recipes like bakes and sliders,the easier to eat them. Insects become kabobs while eyeballs are like appetizers. The Explorers were never faint hearted men and women.Eating the wild things on the planet means having a steely constitution.It's a club for the adventurous palate.