Why is ham traditionally served on Easter?!
Answers: According to one source, it is believed that ham became traditional because in many cultures the pig is a symbol of prosperity. The custom of serving ham at Easter goes back as far as William the Conquerer, who served ham along with other foods such as gammon and tansy pudding.
Ham
Is it? Never knew that
Ham is traditionally served at my house daily.
Ham is served every holiday
I don't think it is a traditionally Easter dish. It was never served on Easter at my house when I was growing up.
I just looked on google. It looks like ham and lamb ARE traditional Easter Dishes. I don't know why. Shouldn't rabbit be the traditional dish?
I don't have ham on Easter...But now I'm hungry...
It was supposed to be Lamb but someone thought they said ham and it's been there ever since.
It probably started with the fact that pigs were slaughtered at that time of year.
Because turkey is served on thanksgiving chicken at Christamas so ham at Easter That's my explanation.
Lamb is really more traditional in most of the world because it is widely available in the spring. This country is more influenced by what they want to SELL you!!! So many people don't have a clue about long traditions...(like they think that diamond rings are "traditional" but they were a hot idea cooked up by the jewelry industry only about 50 years ago)
As an agricultural society, that only had widespread refrigeration only recently, many of our choices this time of year have to do with using PRESERVED FOODS!!!
Salted and smoked foods predominate in Holiday cooking all over the world. See how many things you can think of!
Hints: Corned beef for Paddy's Day...lutefisk in Sweden, smoked fish for Easter in Poland, gefilte fish.....
It might also be because Easter is the end of Catholic Lent, therefore the end of the fast, and meat is now allowed. Catholics are allowed to eat pork, so a ham would be an obvious choice. Greeks and other eastern cultures would be more likely to eat lamb. Both are good choices.