Šunka v ceste

The story

Ham is the one food that nearly every Slovak Easter table shares. A TASR news agency report on regional Easter menus, drawing on ethnologist Katarína Popelková of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, says that meat, mostly ham, is the common base of the holiday across the country, whatever else each region adds. Smoked ham, údená šunka, must also go into the basket carried to church for blessing before Easter, and a common way to cook it is slow simmering with garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns and allspice until tender, then serving it with horseradish, boiled eggs and homemade bread. In these Slovak accounts the ham is boiled, not baked in a crust. Baking a cooked ham inside bread dough is a festive presentation known elsewhere in the region: in northern Croatia, šunka u kruhu is a common Easter dish, often served with Olivier salad and spring onions. The dough bakes into a soft loaf around the meat, so every slice comes with its own bread. Easter Sunday falls on March 28 in 2027. Wrap the ham about three hours before the meal and serve it with horseradish and hard-boiled eggs.