Šunka u kruhu s hrenom

The story

Ham is the center of the Croatian Easter table, especially in continental Croatia and in Slavonia and Baranja in the east, where it is eaten with boiled eggs, horseradish, young onions and radishes once the food has been blessed. Novi list reports that almost a third of the ham produced in Croatia is eaten at Easter. Makers salt the leg for at least six weeks, smoke it, and let it mature for five to six months, then boil it for roughly as many hours as it weighs in kilograms. Baking the cooked ham in a coat of bread dough is an old way to serve it: households once carried their ham to the baker to be baked in bread, and Novi list counts ham baked in bread with young onion, horseradish and radishes among the traditional Easter dishes. Dnevnik.hr notes that horseradish is said to stand for the bitterness of Christ's suffering, and the young vegetables for spring and new life. In Karanac, in Baranja, villagers even hold a Palm Sunday contest to see who can hold a ham at arm's length the longest. Bake it on Saturday, March 27, 2027; the bread keeps the ham moist overnight, and it slices cleanly for Easter breakfast.