Fiction: The Secret of the Ham Bone

Summary

The annual Cooking of the Ham Bone competition in Arigappo County is a deeply rooted tradition where the best cooks from various villages gather to prepare and judge ham bones, with the secret behind the peculiar cooking methods revealed only to a curious young girl.

Abstract

The county of Arigappo celebrates a unique culinary tradition known as the Cooking of the Ham Bone, an event where ham bone cooks from across the region convene to showcase their skills. The competition, which has been held for over fifty years, involves a ritualistic cooking process where each cook, accompanied by their pet dog, prepares their ham bone over a fire, sawing it in half to fit in their pots. The event culminates in a feast for the attendees and a judging ceremony where the cooks present their best meat to a panel of judges. The winner receives the prestigious Annual Ham Bone Trophy. The story unfolds as a young girl questions the origins of the peculiar traditions, leading her to uncover the practical reasons behind tying up the dogs and sawing the ham bones in half from one of the original ham bone cooks, an elderly woman who started the tradition.

Opinions

The tradition of the Cooking of the Ham Bone is presented as an important cultural event that brings the community together.
The ritualistic elements of the competition, such as the presence of pet dogs and the method of cooking, are followed without question by the participants, highlighting the power of tradition.
The young girl's inquisitive nature is portrayed as valuable, as it leads to the revelation of the tradition's origin, which stems from practical necessity rather than ceremonial significance.
The story suggests that understanding the reasons behind traditions can lead to a deeper appreciation of cultural practices.
The elderly woman's willingness to share the secret with the young girl implies a passing of the torch, indicating a potential evolution of the tradition in the future.

An old traditional tale

Image by Rhonda Carrier

The county of Arigappo was having its annual Cooking of the Ham Bone. The best ham bone cooks from all the villages gathered at the county fairgrounds to cook their ham and have it judged. For more than fifty years this annual tradition continued and every year people thronged the fairgrounds for the competition. After the results were announced all the ham bones were stripped of their meat and a feast was provided for all.

The ritual of the Cooking of the Ham Bone was the same in every case. Each cook, accompanied by their pet dog, brought his cured ham from the village. Each cook first tied the dog to a stake in the ground before proceeding to prepare the fire. The ham bone was then sawn in half and placed in two pots on the fire. The pots were then left to stew as each cook added their secret ingredients of spices and condiments to the pots and agitated the bones ever so often. The pet dogs quietly sat and waited as their masters went about their business. It often took a good four hours before a cook was satisfied that the ham was done to his liking. The bone was then stripped and a ceremonial piece thrown to the pet dog who devoured it before it even hit the ground.

After a time the fairgrounds were filled with different and wonderful aromas of spiced ham bone. The stripped meat placed in large platters was distributed to the crowd of gathered onlookers. On one small plate, each cook kept portions of choice meat and presented the small plates to the panel of judges. They would stand by as each judge tasted a bit of meat from each plate and marked a score on the sheets in front of them. The winner was announced at the end of the day and received the Annual Ham Bone Trophy with his name and village inscribed on it. The winning village kept and displayed the trophy until the next year’s competition.

A young girl was watching the proceedings with interest and asked her father, “Father, why does each cook have to bring a pet dog and why is the ham bone sawn in two?” The father replied, “My child that is the way it was always done. It is a tradition. Our village was the first to start cooking ham bones many years ago and soon other villages followed.” “But Father,” persisted the young girl, “Why must the dog be there and why must the bone be sawn in two?” The father replied, “I do not know, child. I never asked the question. But there is someone in our village who was one of the first ham bone cooks. She is quite old now, but she may be able to answer your question.”When they returned to the village, the little girl sought out the old lady, now well in her nineties, and posed the question to her. The old lady looked at the little girl and said, “Child, it is tradition!” Once again the child persisted with her question and the old lady beckoned her close and said, “I was the first one to start cooking ham bones before others caught on to the task. You are the first to ever ask me that question. Everyone has followed my way of cooking the ham bone without knowing why. It is a big secret. If I tell you the secret you must promise not to tell.” The little girl promised. The old lady smiled and said, “When I started cooking ham bone, my dog would never sit still and was always trying to get at the hot pot. I had to tie him to a stake in the ground to stop him from bothering me and hurting himself. And as to why the ham bone is sawn in half, well I did not have a pot large enough to put the whole bone-in, so I had to saw it in half and cook it in two pots.”

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