It's almost Easter, and I'll be going back up to Canada to spend it with my Mum, Uncle and Grannie.  Not to mention my wonderful Canadian friends.  Speaking to a friend here  in MA last night the topic of what we were going to eat came up.  I answered that I wasn't sure but either ham or lamb.

I was struck by how different those two meats are.  Considering Easter seems intrinsically linked to Passover  it's funny that one of the traditional meats consumed during this holiday is not kosher.  It's almost as if there is an intent behind eating ham, "it's our holiday, and you can't participate", defining the Easter feast by isolating it from
Passover by making the traditional meal very NOT kosher.   Conversely the eating of lamb at either Easter or Passover is linked directly to the Old Testament, killing the lamb and spreading it's blood over your door so that the first born son is spared.   Seems that the more correct meal would be lamb.  But I'm still haunted by where the ham came from.   My first thought was that it's a British tradition, why I feel that way I'm not sure.  The Brits do like their lamb as well.

There are many food scholars that look specifically at religious eating habits, and how they've evolved.  It would be interesting to see what they say about the Easter Ham, is it a way to separate the Christians from the Jews?  Or is it just that ham is delicious and any excuse to break out a lovely moist ham is a good one.