Why I Traditionally Eat Ham on Christmas Day — A Yum! Investigation
When I was a teenager, I took great pleasure in cooking my family's annual Christmas dinner.
I did this of my own accord. My mom was surprised when I volunteered to do so. Yet, on the day, she loved that she could just lay back, relax and savor the fruits of someone else's labor of Love.
Now, when I was ideating and jotting down the menu items — and grocery list — for our big, beautiful Christmas dinner, never not once did I think about firing up the BBQ grill.
Because here in America, barbecue grilling is largely a summertime affair...
Right?
Well, it didn't used to be.
While researching the Barbecue episode of my The United States of Yum! podcast series, I discovered that, for much of American history, Christmas barbecues were a VERY big deal.
Especially in the Solana community.
Solana is the ethnic and cultural name for foundational Americans also known as African Americans or black Americans. Many Solanas have African, European and Indigenous American ancestry.
Back in the Day
According to Easter Reed, a Solana who lived on a Georgia plantation in the 1800s:
"On Christmas and the Fourth of July, big celebrations were held. [We] either visited other plantations, or had guests of [our] own on those days. Games and dances lasted all day.
One of the most interesting events of the day was the feast served around one o'clock. At Christmastime, a pig was barbecued."
After the Civil War, this holiday tradition continued on as a smaller, family affair in Solana homes throughout the American South and beyond.
"That Christmas was wonderful to me."
So said one Solana woman who grew up in Virginia at the turn of the 20th century.
"Daddy would kill a pig and he would bar-b-que [it] in the yard."
She also describes some of the other delectable dishes they savored during Christmas dinner. From collard greens; to a cornucopia of sweets:
"We had [sweet potato] pies, coconut pies and chocolate. All different kinds of cakes too."
Now in the early 1900s, if you didn't feel like barbecuing a holiday pig yourself, in places like Kansas City, Missouri, you could buy BBQ pork fresh off the grill from Solana pitmasters and restauranteurs like Henry Perry, the father of Kansas City-style barbecue.
What the Ham?!?
When I discovered that barbecuing a pig for Christmas dinner was a centuries-old Solana tradition, I began to wonder:
Is that why my family traditionally has baked ham for Christmas dinner?
When I picture a mouthwatering Christmas dinner, I instantly see a succulent, honey baked ham as the centerpiece.
Likewise, Shirley Martin, a Solana who grew up on her family farm in Arkansas, has fond and vivid memories of the Christmas dinners of her youth:
"Our Christmas dinner [was] always chicken and stuffing; baked ham; collard greens; macaroni and cheese; candied yams; potato salad; and rolls."
My oh my, that is a menu after my own heart. But wait, there's more!
"Dessert was caramel cake; coconut cake; sweet potato pie; and pecan pie."
A Legacy of Flavor
With the passage of decades and centuries, it is fascinating and comforting that some things haven't changed all that much.
From baked ham to collard greens to sweet potato pie, these delicacies are beloved holiday mainstays on Solana dinner tables nationwide.
Thanks to recipes and techniques passed down in my Solana family, I am expert at baking a holiday ham that is sweet, savory, juicy and oh so yummy!
Yet, every time I have prepped, baked and savored a Christmas ham, I never thought about why that was my family's meat of choice — without question — year after year after year.
Sometimes we don't fully know or understand where our cultural traditions stem from. They've just been there, all our lives, since birth.
But now, knowing that in my culture, a Christmas pork barbecue used to be one of the biggest social events of the year, from now on, I will definitely look upon my annual Christmas ham with a smile of nostalgia and gratitude.
Gratitude for the beautiful traditions that have been passed down to me by my ancestors — with Love, wisdom and flavor!
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