Hard Bah! Hambag Quiz / Test | Food & Drink

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. If the main ingredients for your recipe included chicken, ham, cheese and breadcrumbs you likely just made what famous dish?

Answer: Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chicken Cordon Bleu is that rich, savory combination of chicken, cheese, ham and breading that is the bane of calorie counters around the world. Chicken Kiev is chicken and herbed butter rolled in breading that often visually looks similar to Chicken Cordon Bleu. Both Chicken Vindaloo and Country Captain have Indian roots and certainly do not contain ham.

2. Which of the following items would not appear on an ingredient label for ham?

Answer: Sodium Thiopental

Sodium thiopental is an anesthetic and will not be on the ham label in your local store. Sodium chloride is common salt and will be used in all hams although there certainly is a trend to reduce it's use in ham products. Sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate are used primarily to prevent botulism although they are also key in producing the characteristic ham color and character for many ham styles.

Some traditional ham styles around the world are salt cured only without nitrates if that is your preference and there has been a recent trend to "natural or organic" wet cured hams that may not have any nitrate listed on the label.

However these often do include celery powder or celery juice on the label which is an ingredient naturally high in nitrates. Sodium phosphates are typically used in brine cured hams to help the ham retain its moisture.

3. In parts of the American South, wet cured hams are referred to as "city ham" while the dry cured hams that are a regional specialty are called what?

Answer: Country Hams

Country hams are a traditional product of the American South. Many states have their own regional approach to making country hams and a Virginia style country ham will be very different in character and taste from a Tennessee Ham, a Kentucky ham or a Missouri Ham. Country ham has a much higher salt content than "city hams" and is often soaked in water prior to preparation to reduce the salt content. Country hams are often either boiled or baked for Christmas across much of the South as well as sliced thin and used in Country Ham Biscuits and often as seasoning meat in traditional bean and greens dishes.

4. Jamon Iberico de bellota is a famous style of ham made from acorn fed pigs in what country?

Answer: Spain

This is a dry cured ham that is produced from a specific breed of pigs that is allowed to eat acorns while roaming. There are several grades of Jamon Iberico and all are great but Jamon Iberico de belotta is the most prized and is typically aged for 36 months which also contributes to it's unique taste and character

5. Which of the following ham styles in the United states is made from the pork shoulder and not from the rear leg?

Answer: Picnic Ham

Picnic ham is not a true ham but is produced from the shoulder picnic in the "ham style". They are typically produced in a wet cure fashion and certainly can be used in many recipes calling for ham. Do expect it to deliver a lower slice yield and have more connective tissue than many hams. The others listed are common ham styles that are indeed produced from the rear leg.

6. Which of the following products is actually made from cured turkey thigh meat?

Answer: Turkey Ham

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Turkey Ham is a fully cooked product made from cured turkey thigh meat. At one point turkey thigh meat was very inexpensive in the United States and this often was seen as a low cost alternative to ham although that is certainly not always the case today.

Some consumers see this as a healthier or lower fat version of ham but I would encourage you to read the label to confirm that prior to purchase. Westphalian ham is a great style of German dry cured ham and Serrano is of Spanish origin. Pancetta is a dry cured product that is derived from the pork belly rather than the ham with a unique texture and characteristic savory taste.

7. Bean soup made with ham hocks has been served nearly every day since the early 1900s at the restaurant of which of the following American government institutions?

Answer: The Senate

Senate Bean Soup is an institution and once, when rationing during World War II caused it to be removed briefly from the menu, this was considered important enough to be noted in local newspapers. The House does have it's own version of bean soup that is served daily as well.

8. Jinhua Ham is a very traditional Chinese dry cured ham that can be traced back to which century?

Answer: 9th

Ham is truly an ancient food with many global food stories. The European tradition of dried hams shows up in the writings of Cato the Elder around 160 BC. Jinhua Ham can be traced to the Tang dynasty (618 -907 AD).

9. Which of the following is the classification for ham recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture that has the highest amount of added non-ham ingredients?

Answer: Ham and water product

All of these are USDA classifications that are used for regulation of commercially cured hams. Products labeled just as ham have the least added moisture, followed by ham with natural juices and ham with water added, while a ham and water product has the highest percentage of added ingredients.

10. In the American South, Redeye Gravy is typically made when you take the drippings from cooking a ham and add what other key ingredient?

Answer: Coffee

Redeye Gravy is typically a non-thickened gravy in which a cup of cold coffee is used to deglaze a pan from fried ham or added to the pan drippings from a baked ham. It is delicious when served over hot biscuits.

Source: Author kuecks

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor WesleyCrusher before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Bah! Hambag Trivia Quiz

A random collection of questions on ham and foods that contain ham as an ingredient

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