Turkey for Thanksgivin, HAM for CHRISTMAS?

Is that an all-american tradition? What about the latter half, does it have Christian or Catholic roots?

I've noticed the vast majority of Catholic-colonized cultures around the globe - from All of South America, Central America, and the Caribbean to the Philippines, all those nationalities tend to feast on SWINE for CHRISTMAS..

Is there some sort of biblical or religious (ie, Catholic?!) significance of swine for Navidad?

a reply to: Plantagenet

I suppose it's possible. But it might also just be because it's so damn tasty!! Especially when you're talking about spiral cut ham with the brown sugar glaze!! Yeah baby!! Good stuff.

a reply to: Plantagenet
I think it's all about "luxury eating".
In the days of Dickens, the chosen bird was goose. "Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...". It was a goose that Scrooge bought for the Cratchetts.
When I was very young, the suitable bird for our small family was chicken.
I'm sure the criterion elsewhere is "What is tasty that we don't have very often?" Deep symbolism unlikely.

In the Middle Ages, village families were likely to keep their own pigs and slaughter just one a year, trying to keep the meat as long as possible. That might be the origin of ham-at-Christmas.

a reply to: Plantagenet

The meal I am taking part in has lasagna, rigatoni, hot and sweet italian sausage and some sort of kale salad.
No ham.
No turkey.
When I was a child, our family Thanksgiving and Christmas meals were identical to each other. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and sauerkraut salad.
We had ham for Easter.

a reply to: butcherguy



Being that I am a first generation American my mother would always make 'Ginzo' Christmas, we would have all kinds of pasta, ham, lamb and turkey.

No one ever ate the turkey.

a reply to: Plantagenet

Just a usual meal for me, probably roasted vegetables and fish.

Just another day on planet earth.

Lol, when Jesus returns I reckon He will have a laugh and say "WTF, did you know you got my birthdate wrong for 2000 plus years".

In UK, turkey is the traditional similar to U.S Thanksgiving.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus
My dad referred to Italian food as Hunky food.
Have you ever heard of that term? I think he picked it up in Rhode Island while we were up there for 6 months.

originally posted by: butcherguy
My dad referred to Italian food as Hunky food.
Have you ever heard of that term? I think he picked it up in Rhode Island while we were up there for 6 months.

No, I have not, but Rhode Island Italians are an interesting bunch.

a reply to: Revolution9

In UK, turkey is the traditional similar to U.S Thanksgiving.

Do they baste it with Marmite?

We always had a second turkey dinner with all the trimmings. We will when we get out to my folks' over New Year's when we will celebrate both it and Christmas.

However, Teikiatsu and I generally will do a variety of things for our personal family meal: pork tenderloin en croute, turkey breast, leg of lamb.

I think the general idea is to simply put on a feast.

We did find goose at our local grocery, but we felt that paying $75 for a single bird was a might excessive.

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: Revolution9

In UK, turkey is the traditional similar to U.S Thanksgiving.

Do they baste it with Marmite?

I have not heard of that being done. May be some do though. Is it an American thing? I have not had a Christmas dinner for quite a few years now. I always get invited, but I don't like the big crowd, feel very uncomfortable. I would have been different if I had a wife and kids, but I am a bachelor and sit there looking like Scrooge in a party hat (only joking). Somewhere along the line I slipped out of the traditional and the routine, a lot of that is being single and working a lot of years away from the area where my family lives.

I tend to try and make it just another day. I guess for people who don't have a family it could be a time where their lives feel empty, they feel emotionally vulnerable and a little invisible and uncared for, so easy to feel sorrowful. I make it like a normal day, keeping the same routine. I will def' be on ATS as usual, hah!.

But you and your family have a great day and remember us poor misery guts won't ya? Raise a glass for the misfits. Bless!

a reply to: Plantagenet

Go with Fresh Ham for Xmas. As a kid, for years, I thought I was eating turkey! It's delicious and makes a great gravy too!

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: butcherguy
My dad referred to Italian food as Hunky food.
Have you ever heard of that term? I think he picked it up in Rhode Island while we were up there for 6 months.

No, I have not, but Rhode Island Italians are an interesting bunch.

Yeah. They accepted us pretty well, but they were some crew.
My dad was in a bar when a guy got knocked off in a mob hit. The Italian guy he was with said, 'Don't do nothing and keep your mouth shut.'
The cops came and asked questions. It turns out that no one saw a thing.

a reply to: Plantagenet

HAM for CHRISTMAS?

Yeah, the tradition likely has its roots in the Thesmophoria of Ancient Greece.

I've had Ham, Turkey, Goose, Roast Beef and sometimes just a lot of different finger sandwiches.

One year when I was a kid, we had Duck.

Some cultures have the big meal on different days too. Christmas isn't the day for big eats, but Christmas Eve is.

nope. it's pagan in origin, like many christmas traditions. the pig symbolized the mother goddess. similarly, roasting a whole pig with an apple in it's mouth is pagan, because the apple also symbolizes the goddess too. to honor the nature god, they cooked venuson with juniper berries, but that feast is currently out of style. most of the pagan traditions were chosen based on what food was available that time of year, anyway, so most cultures didn't have a lot of other options to choose until we invented refrigeration and global transport of food. merry christmas!!! p.s. there's tons of information available about which holiday traditions are pagan, but you can usually tell by asking yourself "does this have anything to do with jesus, mary, or the bible?" if the answer is no (easter bunny, christmas tree, all of halloween....) it's usually pagan.

originally posted by: ketsuko
We always had a second turkey dinner with all the trimmings. We will when we get out to my folks' over New Year's when we will celebrate both it and Christmas.

However, Teikiatsu and I generally will do a variety of things for our personal family meal: pork tenderloin en croute, turkey breast, leg of lamb.

I think the general idea is to simply put on a feast.

We did find goose at our local grocery, but we felt that paying $75 for a single bird was a might excessive.

For fifteen dollars and a few 12 g shells, you could cut that price considerably.
Just passing on some good old holiday tradition!

a reply to: Plantagenet

I think it should be Bacon for Thanksgiving and Fish for Christmas.

Turkey on Thanksgiving, Goose on Christmas and Ham on New Years....But thats just me