Ham and eggs

This article is about the dish. For other uses, see Ham and eggs (disambiguation).

Ham and eggs is a dish combining various preparations of those two ingredients. It has been described as a staple of "an old-fashioned American breakfast".^[1] It is also served as a lunch and dinner dish. Some notable people have professed an affinity for the dish, such as American entrepreneur Duncan Hines and the Manchurian Emperor Puyi. Similar dishes include bacon and eggs, Spanish eggs, the Denver omelette and eggs Benedict.

Ham and eggs

Ham and eggs served with thinly sliced ham and fried eggs prepared "sunny side up", served with toast
Course	Breakfast
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredients	Eggs, ham
Similar dishes	Bacon and eggs, Spanish eggs, Denver omelette, Eggs Benedict

The term ham and eggs and some variations of it have been used in various cultural contexts. In the United States, it has been used as a slang term, and to refer to various entities and events.

Preparation

Ham and eggs is a popular dish often served as a breakfast meal in the United States.^[1][2][3][4] It is also consumed as a dinner or supper dish, for example in parts of the Southern United States,^[5] and is sometimes served as a lunch dish.^[6] Eggs served with the dish can be fried, scrambled or poached.^{[7][8][9][10]} Additional ingredients such as tomatoes and seasonings, such as herbes de Provence, are sometimes used.^[6][9] The dish can be prepared on a stovetop in a skillet or frying pan, and also baked or broiled in an oven.^[6][11][12]

The pan juices or gravy from the ham can be drizzled over the eggs to enhance flavor.^[13] Using high-quality ham and cooking over low heat helps prevent overcooking and improves the dish.^[2] One variation, country-style ham and eggs, involves reducing cream in the pan after cooking and then dolloping it over the top.^[13] Ham and eggs are often accompanied by side dishes such as toast^[14] and hash browns.

• 
  Ham and eggs served with scrambled eggs
• 
  A thick-cut ham steak and scrambled eggs
• 
  Grilled ham and fried eggs
• 
  A close-up view of fried ham and eggs

Similar dishes

Bacon and eggs is a similar dish, as is Eggs Benedict, which is prepared using bacon, Canadian bacon or ham and poached eggs as main ingredients.^[15][16][17] Spanish eggs consists of ham and eggs served atop heavily seasoned boiled rice.^[10] Ham and eggs are two of the main ingredients in the Denver omelette.^[18]

• 
  Bacon and eggs
• 
  Eggs Benedict prepared with tasso ham, tomato and cajun-style hollandaise sauce
• 
  Ham and eggs over rice and served with lettuce
• 
  A Denver omelette with toast, hash browns and tomato ketchup

In culture

Slang references

The term "ham and eggs" and variations of it have had various slang meanings.^[19] In rhyming slang it refers to legs;^[20] the phrase was also used with this meaning in the U.S. in the 1920s.^[19] "Like ham and eggs" refers to things that typically go together and are difficult to separate.^[21] To "ham and egg it" is to plug away at something.^[1] "Ham and eggs" or "ham and egger" can also refer to an ordinary, unskilled or mediocre person.^[19] A specific example of this is a boxer "with a minimum of talent";^[1][21] "ham and egger" occurs in this context in the original Rocky film, filmed in 1975, when Rocky downplays his chances as a title contender, referring to himself as "really a ham-and-egger".^[22] Similarly, "ham and egger" / "ham and egging" are both used in rhyming slang to describe a "beggar", and the act of "begging", respectively.

Baseball

"Ham and Egger" refers to a double play.^[23] An older phrase, Sonoma State Baseball coach Casey Gilroy is a major proponent for use of "Ham and Egger" to describe what others may call a "tailor made" double play.^[24] "Ham and egger" is one of many food related phrases found in baseball, including: "high cheese", "can of corn", "pickle", "tater", "meat ball", "pea", "cup of coffee", "hot stove", "butcher boy", "jam", and "pepper".^[25][26][27]

Harriman Alaska Expedition

Participants in the Harriman Alaska Expedition of 1899 sometimes referred to the expedition as "the H.A.E." or "Ham and Eggs".^[28] Some participants in the expedition later participated in the "Ham and Eggs Club", a group of expedition members in the United States who reunited periodically.^[28] The group was formed when Louis Agassiz Fuertes declared in a letter that the H.A.E. had "resolved itself into the Ham and Eggs Club".^[28] John Muir hosted meetings in California, and John Burroughs often hosted meetings on the East Coast.^[28]

In politics

Main article: Ham and Eggs Movement

The Ham and Eggs Movement was a grassroots movement and organization in California that placed a billion-dollar pension plan on the state ballot in 1938 as a proposed state constitutional amendment, named Proposition 25.^{[29][30][31][32]} Under the proposal, the state would have issued scrip payments to unemployed residents over the age of 50.^[31][33] After 1,103,000 California residents signed a petition, the proposal was voted on a second time in a special election in 1939,^[34] but despite what the New York Times called a "huge off-year vote", it was defeated two-to-one.^[34][29]

Events

For over forty years, the Lancaster Men's Chorus on the Ohio University Lancaster campus has performed an annual concert called the "Ham & Eggs Show".^[35][36]

See also

• Food portal
• Society portal
• Language portal

• Bacon, egg and cheese sandwich – a breakfast sandwich
• Denver sandwich
• Green Eggs and Ham – a children's book by Dr. Seuss
• Ham and cheese sandwich
• Ham and egg bun
• List of breakfast dishes
• List of egg dishes
• List of ham dishes
• Scrambled eggs

Notes

References

1. Palmatier, R.A. (2000). Food: A Dictionary of Literal and Nonliteral Terms. ABC-Clio ebook. Greenwood Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-313-31436-0. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
2. Duda, C. (2008). Completely Breakfast. Cedar Fort, Incorporated. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-59955-102-9. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
3. The American Magazine. Colver Publishing House. 1921. p. 132. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
4. Fowler, Damon Lee (February 23, 2016). "On Food: Ham and eggs a comforting, versatile meal". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
5. Hatchett, L. (2001). Duncan Hines: The Man Behind the Cake Mix. Mercer University Press. pp. 23–25. ISBN 978-0-86554-773-5. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
6. Williams, A. (2001). Beginner's Grub. Summersdale Publishers Limited. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-84839-966-2. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
7. Gillette, F.L.; Ziemann, H. (1890). The White House Cook Book. T.S. Menough. p. 132. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
8. "Ham and eggs favorite dish of average man, Tribune says". Institute of American meat packers. 1920. p. 2.
9. Hollywood, P. (2014). Paul Hollywood's Bread. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-4088-4122-8. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
10. Lincoln, M.J. (2008). Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cook Book: What to Do and What Not to Do in Cooking. Cooking in America. Applewood Books. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-4290-9010-0. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
11. Short (pseud.) (1880). Breakfasts and luncheons at home. p. 11. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
12. Ronald, M. (2008). The Century Cook Book. Cooking in America Series. Applewood Books. p. 178. ISBN 978-1-4290-1206-5. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
13. Beard, J. (2009). James Beard's American Cookery. Little, Brown. p. pt1106. ISBN 978-0-316-06981-6. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
14. Raines, K. (2016). On Toast: Tartines, Crostini, and Open-Faced Sandwiches. Quarry Books. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-63159-077-1. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
15. Cunningham, M.; Jarrett, L. (1996). The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Knopf. p. 349. ISBN 978-0-679-45081-8. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
16. Vollstedt, M. (2012). The Big Book of Breakfast: Serious Comfort Food for Any Time of the Day. Chronicle Books LLC. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-4521-2359-2. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
17. Mitchell, P.; Mitchell, D. (2000). Feeding the Dinosaur Gene: The 50/50 Food Plan Cookbook. Wakefield Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-86254-524-3. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
18. Warner, Ryan (June 2, 2016). "Order Up: Cracking Open The History Of The Denver Omelet". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
19. Green, J. (2005). Cassell's Dictionary of Slang. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 671. ISBN 978-0-304-36636-1. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
20. Partridge, Eric (2006) [1984]. Beale, Paul (ed.). A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (8th ed.). Routledge. p. 523. ISBN 0-415-06568-2.
21. Dolgopolov, Y. (2010). A Dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations. McFarland. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-7864-5855-4. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
22. Pym, J. (2010). Time Out Film Guide. Time Out Guides Limited. p. 906. ISBN 978-1-84670-208-2. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
23. "What is ham and eggs in baseball?".
24. "Catch Phrases". July 10, 2012.
25. "The origin stories behind 11 uniquely strange baseball terms". MLB.com. June 14, 2016.
26. "Food Related Baseball Terms".
27. "Cheering on the Jays? Know your food baseball terms". October 23, 2015.
28. Litwin, T.S. (2005). The Harriman Alaska Expedition Retraced: A Century of Change, 1899-2001. Rutgers University Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-8135-3505-0. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
29. Darnton, Byron (November 8, 1939). "No $30 Thursdays". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2016. (subscription required)
30. Mitchell, D.J.B. (2000). Pensions Politics and the Elderly: Historic Social Movements and Their Lessons for Our Aging Society. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 24–48. ISBN 978-0-7656-0519-1. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
31. Goebel, T. (2003). A Government by the People: Direct Democracy in America, 1890-1940. University of North Carolina Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-8078-6018-2. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
32. Loue, S.; Sajatovic, M. (2008). Encyclopedia of Aging and Public Health. Springer. p. 406. ISBN 978-0-387-33753-1. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
33. Braitman, J.R.; Uelmen, G.F. (2012). Justice Stanley Mosk: A Life at the Center of California Politics and Justice. McFarland, Incorporated. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7864-6841-6. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
34. McWilliams, C. (1946). Southern California: an Island on the Land. Peregrine Smith Books. Peregrine Smith. p. 307. ISBN 978-0-87905-007-8. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
35. "Ham and Eggs program set by Lancaster Men's Chorus". Perry County Tribune. April 2, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
36. "Lancaster Men's Chorus Donates to Wagner Theatre Improvement Campaign". Ohio University. April 8, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2016.

Further reading

• Underhill, J.E. (1910). Sunshine Cook Book: A Collection of Valuable Recipes and Menus Gathered from Various Sources. J. E. Underhill. p. 73.
• Meat and Livestock Digest. Institute of American meat packers. 1920. p. 2. Ham and eggs favorite dish of average man, Tribune says

External links

• Media related to Ham and eggs at Wikimedia Commons