The Whole Hog: Easter Ham in Coca Cola

Easter certainly seemed like an excellent excuse for selecting a big ol' ham from our collection of pig parts. I picked out the biggest one I had - 13 pounds - and commenced to invite a lot of friends over for dinner. Then came decision-making time; how should I cook it? When you have a good ham from a good pig, you really can't go wrong simply baking it and serving it with the classic sauce my Daddy always made (mustard, mayonnaise, and brown sugar.) But my friend and fellow pig-shareholder Ondine had told me about how she had baked one of her hams in Coca Cola, resulting in rich and flavorful meat, and that the cooking liquids had then made a delicious black bean soup base - ooh, sign me up! She had been meaning to write it up for the blog, but time had gotten away from her; she referred me to the Nigella Lawson recipe she had used.



Crazy as it sounds to us northerners, cooking meat in "Co' Cola" is a classic southern technique, and I had recently made and enjoyed a phenomenal Mexican-style beef stew with (of course) Mexican coke, which is made with cane sugar. (American coke is made with corn syrup. Feh.) Also, at my last job I worked with a number of Filipina women who had waxed poetic about whole pig roasted in Seven Up, so my mind was open to the idea. So, after doing a little research, I decided to go for it. There are many different recipes out there, most of which call for glazing the ham, then baking and basting it with the Coke. British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson starts her version of the recipe by confessing that she first made it as a joke, expecting it to be disgusting, but now has a hard time making it any other way. Her version calls for braising the ham in Coke on the stove top for some hours, then glazing it and baking it. She does, however, say that she often skips the glazing and baking part, opting to just cook it in the Coke for longer.

After much deliberation, I braised the ham in Coke in my large enameled cast iron Dutch oven, then glazed and baked it. Nigella Lawson's recipe calls for glazing it with a tablespoon of "black treacle" - blackstrap molasses - topped with Demerara sugar and powdered English mustard. I used my own variation of Daddy's classic ham sauce; I mixed brown sugar with both dried and prepared mustard, smeared it all over the top, and baked it in a foil-lined roasting pan. It was quite delicious, a huge hit with the guests, and frankly, I wouldn't know it was cooked in Coke if I hadn't been told. Ham is already a sweet meat which is complemented by additional sweet glazes and sauces; the Coke is actually pretty mild compared to the classic application of pineapple rings in heavy syrup and super-sweet glazes.

As for that definition of eternity as "two people and a ham" - so far we have absolutely no data that corroborates this famous quote. Although I wondered if I might come to feel that way as I packed away the somewhat substantial leftovers on Sunday night, on this the following Saturday, we are now down to a (generously upholstered) ham-bone. On Monday night, I made a pasta dish with cream, shallots, white wine, Parmiggiano Reggiano, and ham. Johanna (our nine year-old) happily ate grilled ham and cheese sandwiches every night this week for dinner, while I ate it fried (Joel was at a conference in San Francisco all week, eating at restaurants with colleagues.) The fried surfaces of the ham caramelized beautifully and intensified the delicious flavors. And last night, as we polished off the last of the fried rice with ham (recipe soon to follow) I had made the night before, Johanna was heard to wistfully remark that she wished that "eternity was two people and a ham. Then we would never run out of it."

Today, as I write, the ham bone is nestled in among the black beans as they cook in the leftover braising liquids; it looks and smells divine. (Recipe also soon to follow.) Ah, ham; gone again so soon.


Ham in Coca Cola
A Southern Classic: Adapted from Nigella Lawson's Version

For the Ham:
1 Fully Cooked Ham (Please get one from a sustainably raised pig)
2 Liters of Coca Cola made with Cane Sugar (available at Latin specialty stores)
1 large onion, peeled and halved

For the Glaze:
1 heaping TB molasses
2 tsp dried mustard powder
2 TB Brown or raw sugar

Or:
2 TB Brown sugar
1 TB Dijon mustard
1 tsp dried mustard powder

Put your ham, fat side down, with the cut pieces of onion, in a Dutch oven large enough to hold it and the cola. Add the cola to the pan, bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to the simmer and cook it, partially covered. Allow 1/2 hour per pound of meat.

While it cooks, cover your roasting pan with foil to make sure that you can clean it later!

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees at the appropriate time, (close to when the ham is done braising) and when the meat is braised, turn off the burner. Stick your carving fork in to remove the ham from the liquid (be sure to save the liquid for the soup yet to come!) - and put the ham in your roasting pan, fat-side up. If you have excessive fat on the ham, carefully remove it from the ham using your carving or chef's knife; it will come off easily, as everything will be quite soft now.

If you are using the molasses-based glaze, smear the top with the molasses, then combine the sugar and mustard powder and pat the dry mixture onto the molasses until it sticks.

If you are using the prepared mustard glaze, combine all three ingredients and spread them on the top surface.

Pop the ham into the hot oven and bake until the glaze is bubbly and lovely, about 10 minutes.

An excellent accompaniment is, of course, corn muffins (see my earlier post) or biscuits.

Wine match: A Riesling or Gewurtztraminer, Prosecco or other fruity/sweet white wine blend is an excellent match. We enjoyed ours with an Alsatian white.

Bon Appetit!