photo credit: Hiya Patel
It’s an experience that most people have gone through: sitting there at Thanksgiving dinner, listening to one’s uncle ramble on about the election, while Grandpa argues that the Steelers are going all the way this year. It’s a truly normal holiday experience.
While the holidays are seen as a time to catch up with family in a peaceful and friendly way, in recent years it has seemed to become the opposite. They have evolved into a day to debate, argue and get true emotions out. But all this useless blabber about politics and sports has seemed to overshadow what the true debate of the holidays should be.
Thanksgiving is a time to reconnect and give thanks to family, friends, jobs, privilege and more. But, most importantly, Thanksgiving is a time to eat. The people of America need to realize that Thanksgiving shouldn’t be about politics, or the sports; it should be about the meat.
Now, of course most people would assume the cliché opinion about Thanksgiving meat. Everyone has always seen the turkey as the icon and star of this holiday. But it’s time people finally move on from the overrated and overeaten meat and begin their lifelong relationship with ham, or the delicacy that I like to call it.
For starters, ham just straight-up tastes better. It is so much juicer than a dry-piece of burnt turkey, which improves its overall taste. As well as this, it has a texture that gives more pleasure to the mouth. It’s smooth and keeps its form, unlike turkey, which dry qualities make it easier to break and crumble.
Adding to that, ham also has much better customizations, compared to turkey. Every single year, my family goes to Honey Baked Hams and buys a cinnamon and honey glazed ham to eat on Thanksgiving Day. This impeccable meat is the staple of the season for me.
Each piece is skillfully glazed with just enough cinnamon and sugar to improve its taste; each bite will perfectly hit the taste buds and send the feeling of heaven throughout the body.
But more than the glaze, the ham is cooked and prepared to perfection, whether it’s the perfect pink color or its ability to rip so easily, it can easily be identified as a masterpiece.
For my house, the turkey stays untouched. Even when freshly pulled out of the oven, all of the family still gravitates to the formidable chunk of meat that is the honey glazed ham. The pathetic piece of turkey stays untouched, even when it is considered a leftover.
Now, there is a strong argument from the other side, giving real, scientific data that turkey is the superior meat. Turkey meat has much higher content of protein, vitamins, copper, magnesium and phosphorus, and a much lower level of sodium, according to Yahoo Sports.
But one has to remember that Thanksgiving is not about staying healthy. The whole point of Thanksgiving is to eat all that the heart desires, and a major part of that is the less healthy foods.
So while ham may not be as healthy, the mental and emotional benefits that it gives a person overpowers the extra sodium found in the meat. Don’t feel ashamed picking up that extra piece of ham; it’s the reason for the season!
