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The holidays are here\u2014and, per usual, the ham\u2019s coming. Roughly 300 million pounds of it<\/a>, in this country, at least. Most of those 150,000 tonnes of cured pork leg<\/a> will be baked. Much will be glazed and rubbed and glazed again<\/a>. Some will don cherry studded crowns of sliced, canned pineapple<\/a>. And, odds are, some fraction will find itself in your vicinity.<\/p>\n When you inevitably find yourself face-to-face with some peppercorn crusted, honey glazed, bone-in beauty, it helps to speak ham. Which is why we\u2019ve built a somewhat serious glossary that will\u2014at the bare minimum\u2014allow you to be a contributing (and hopefully enjoyable) member of most holiday-happen, pork-based conversations.<\/p>\n 1939 World\u2019s Fair:<\/strong> Where Harry Hoenselaar\u2019s spiral cut ham machine made its global debut\u2014and nobody cared.<\/p>\n Consisting of a tire jack, pie tin, washing machine motor, and a knife, the machine allowed its user to slice a whole ham in just 30 seconds\u2014a significant reduction to the \u201cseveral minutes<\/a>\u201d it took to do by hand.<\/p>\n Ten years after the fair, Harry got his slicer patented. Then eight years after that, Harry finally caught his big break: By remortgaging his house, he scrounged up the $500 necessary to buy the Detroit-based HoneyBaked Ham Company.<\/p>\n Today, the HoneyBaked Ham Company has over 400 stores across the country. And roughly 34% of all hams sold in the US are spiral cut<\/a>.<\/p>\n Alison Roman:<\/strong> Famed recipe developer and ham party thrower<\/a>. Created an elite, bone-in dry-brine<\/a>. Has more pork-based influence than Oscar Meyer\u2014at least among more 30-somethings with liberal arts degrees.<\/p>\n Christmas Turkey:<\/strong> Per the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor<\/a>, \u201cChristmas Turkey\u201d was mentioned 13 times as often as \u201cChristmas Ham\u201d in American and British books published during 1940. This is just one piece of evidence in their compelling argument that\u2014within America\u2014holiday ham is a fairly new tradition<\/a> primarily rooted in corporate marketing. Which, per my notes, makes it exactly like everything else I enjoy.<\/p>\n City and Country:<\/strong> The two dominant American ham styles. Country hams are dry brined for several months until they resemble something that\u2019s vaguely prosciutto-like. City hams are wet-brined, pinker, and what\u2019s typically understood as \u201choliday ham.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEating your drinks,? That is genius!\u201d:<\/strong> The appropriate reaction to rum ham<\/a>. Although, not a realistic one: Per sources<\/a>, spiral-cut ham soaked in rum is, unfortunately, terrible. That said\u2014ham alongside rum? Incredible. Especially if it comes in the form of this Winter Citrus Punch<\/a>.<\/p>\n Freyr:<\/strong> A Norse god who some historians place at the genesis of holiday ham. TL;DR: Freyr rode a golden, dwarf-engineered, IIHS Top Safety Pick boar named Gullinbursti. People liked them both, obviously. So, to celebrate the tandem, during Yule\u2014a holiday entirely separate from Christmas\u2014Pagans would slaughter, roast, and enjoy a wild boar. Thus, holiday ham is here.<\/p>\n Laura Krank:<\/strong> Nearly skipped Christmas. Also, nearly became one with asphalt in pursuit of her grocer\u2019s last remaining Hickory Honey Ham<\/a>\u2014one of many ham-loving gestures made throughout a film that far exceeds its 5% Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> score. And it turns out, I\u2019m not the only serious Krank-head: More than ten enlightened cinephiles bid on the Hickory Honey Ham tin used in the film. It sold for $1,040<\/a>.<\/p>\n