Quiz: How much do you know about ham?

Question

What part of the poor unfortunate pig does ham come from?

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Shoulder

Front leg

Hind leg

Belly

Answer 1

It's how you cook it - if you do anything other than boil it, it's not ham.

Answer 2

It's cured.

Answer 3

It depends on the length of time between when the pig is slaughtered and when the meat is processed.

Answer 4

When the packet says "ham", that means it's ham and not something else.

Answer 5

Around 79AD in Italy. It is popularly believed that the residents of Pompeii had perfected the technique a few months before the volcanic eruption.

Answer 6

The 1340s. Records of the Black Plague in England note that the disease was initially linked to 'a newly perfected cure meat' known then as hamme.

Answer 7

The 700s in Japan. When the capital was moved from Nara to Nagaoka, residents in the latter noted that dignitaries brought with them a new type of cured meat called 豚のお尻.

Answer 8

Sure how would you know that? It definitely existed in Roman times, we know that much, and it was likely around even before then, perhaps as long as 7,000 years ago in China.

Answer 9

It's just any ham that comes from a pig who finished their sentences with "kid".

Answer 10

It's any ham that's dry cured along the Shannon estuary.

Answer 11

It's ham smoked over juniper branches and then simmered in cider.

Answer 12

It's any ham served with boxty.

Answer 13

At least two weeks

Answer 14

At least two months

Answer 15

At least two years

Answer 16

At least two decades

Answer 17

It is essentially hind leg meat from a number of pigs processed, mixed down, shaped, sometimes even with a ring of fat added to make it look like the real deal.

Answer 18

It is sliced meat from a different part of the pig than what is normally considered for ham.

Answer 19

It is ham from a pig which had a criminal record but got its life back on track shortly before slaughter.

Answer 20

It is ham from Calvinist pig.

Answer 21

It is any ham with added water.

Answer 22

Carbon-dated to 101BC, found in the ruins of a Roman settlement in what is now London.

Answer 23

It is generally considered to be a piece of ham in the Isle of Wight County Museum in the US state of Virgina. It was cured on July 7, 1902.

Answer 24

Three years ago, two pieces of ham cured in 1798 were found in Wexford, in the backroom of a butchers shop. It is believed whoever was making the ham may have died in the Rebellion, explaining why the ham was forgotten.

Answer 25

Any cured ham simply starts to disintegrate after a decade

Answer 26

The first ham radios were powered by ham.

Answer 27

One of the earliest proponents of ham radio lived on a pig farm. Those who tuned into the broadcasts could often hear pigs squealing the background.

Answer 28

It stands for Helping All Mankind.

Answer 29

It's an acronym of Hyman, Almy, and Murray, the surnames of the three men behind Harvard Radio Club in 1908.

Answer 30

It has its origins in describing poorly skilled 'ham-fisted' operators of telegraph machines in the late 19th century.

Answer 31

Hamburg (as in, the city)

Answer 32

Hamper (as in, to limit or moderate)

Answer 33

Ham (as in, ham)

Answer 34

It's simply colouring to distinguish it from table or sea salt, as the gains are far more course and so are more noticeable when added to dishes.

Answer 35

Sodium nitrite

Answer 36

Potassium nitrate

Answer 37

It is coloured by impurities in the salt, just like Himalayan rock salt.

Answer 38

It's pink because it's for girls and not boys.

Quiz: How much do you know about ham?

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