An American Ham in Paris for New Years.....where to find one
 

In years past, many years, I had no problem packing a ham in my checked luggage and flying to France... I never got stopped and just figured i'd "wing it" if I did...... These days I'm not so brave..... so, does anyone know of a shop in Paris that carries a real american style ham? It's actually not so much for me, but really a treat for friends in Europe. (Note: I will be packing Duncan Hines Brownie mix in my carry-on...LOL)

Brownies are so easy-peasy, would you like my one-bowl recipe?

Can't help with American-style ham, not sure what that means. You might try googling american groceries in Paris but they tend to stock mostly canned and packaged goods, they would have brownie mixes.

Bayonne ham is very good, somewhat like Virginia ham.

Are you sure your friends aren't just being nice about the American ham when they have such wonderful ham there!! ;o)
If you must take a mix, Ghiarradelli brownies are head and shoulders above any others, and basically better than homemeade!!

I wouldn't worry about bringing food from North America to France in checked luggage. They don't have all of the silly rules that are applied in the other direction (just <i>some</i> of the rules).

However, if you go to a traditional butcher and ask for a "<i>demi jambon à cuire</i>" I think you will get something quite similar to American ham to put in your oven. And if you want something smaller, every butcher sells ham hocks of variable sizes ("<i>jambonneau</i>").

kerouac - I may just give it a go......

My friends. while German and French themselves spent their youth in the US (thanks to IBM)... American hams and box mix brownies are all about memories of holidays we spent together as kids.

Kerouac - personal imports of meat and meat products, milk and milk products are not allowed from non EU countries.

I, as you have said would not pack a ham in your luggage this year. Last year for the first time upon leaving the baggage area in Lisbon (at least 50 trips) there was very large signage stating that it was not allowed to bring in meat from no EU countries.

I totally understand your desire to take something from their "food" past. I do the same for friends in Portugal who have visited here and loved some of your foods...key lime pie for one...easy to carry key lime juice in checked luggage.

I have always found american stye ham in Spain in the cold cut department. Here it is called Ham from Prague".. so if that helps.. good. One can buy it by the slice or the whole thing.
Since it is already cooked, just slow reheating is all you need and possibly a glaze to make it feel like home.
I hope you find it! I figure if we can get it here at upscale supermarkets, you SHOULD be able to get it there.

Well, I realize this would be more help if I could remember exactly where I was in the 7th...but I saw a butcher shop at thanksgiving advertising Turkey and American (or French) style stuffing. So, I am thinking they would likely have a ham.

I think it was on rue de Grenelle...maybe rue Bosquet (not Ave Bosquet).

Good luck.

FORGET ANY and ALL Brownie mixes..they are absolutely INFERIOR to the recipe below:

4 eggs
8 oz cream cheese softened
1 box of confectioner's sugar
1 stick of butter (salted or unsalted..up to you)

24 ounces of chocolate chips
20 ounces of chopped walnuts

1 box of any commercial chocolate, dark fudge, etc., cake mix..NOT brownie mix

make the icing first (butter, cream cheese, eggs, and sugar) beaten together until smooth

add everything else

bake at 350 for one hour

Trust me, you'll never go back to the other stuff

Holy Cow Dukey! Of course they'll never go back to the other stuff. They'll be so busy losing weight from that one.

looks good though :D

I'm really curious. What is American ham like? How does it vary from other ham? Is it prepared differently? Would love to know.

Contrary to a fresh ham/pork butt that you must cook, these are already cooked and/or smoked and only need to be reheated. There is no way to "make" this yourself as it is processed and cured like other cold meats.

Perhaps other places it is not called an American Ham, but to distinguish between simple sliced ham for sandwiches..( rolled/pressed processed meats) I guess the OP used that term to direct us in the correct direction.

Dukey1
How many ounces in a box of powdered sugar? Ours comes in a bag. And, a 9 x 13 pan or larger? That recipe sounds fabulous.

An American ham should be salt-cured, smoked, and aged. It is not fully cooked by the smoke, but can be finished in the oven. Can be a bit dry, but very flavorful. Some suggest serving it as you would prosciutto, which it is similar to, but saltier and smoked. L'escoffier mentions Virginia hams, so they have a pretty long history in France.

Frankly, much better than the typical, bland French ham.

Try the Thanksgiving shop in Paris (20, rue Saint Paul 75004 PARIS Tel: 01 42 77 68 29) - http://www.thanksgivingparis.com/

lot's of great info folks - thanks. I used the term "American" as a broad brush that likely has it's orgins in the Virginia ham. My intent was to delineate it from Polish canned hams, cured Italian hams and such.... it realy is quite a grand ham and is similar to but not quite as intense as Schwarzwalder Schinken (Black Forest Ham) one would find in Germany. I have to admit also that American hams are BIG... part of the fun, a family can eat for days....In recent years we have spiral cut hams which are pre-sliced in thin cuts, but the whole is kept together for cooking. They are "easy" but tend to dry out... I like the good old big Virginia kind the best!

A box of powdered sugar in the US is 16 oz (one pound).

No way to define American ham as they vary by region.

A country ham (American) is a bit like prosciutto as it is dryer and saltier. Many Southerners will boil it in a large metal container and wrap it overnight. It comes out super tender, moist and not dry at all!! But I love it sliced and heated up in a skillet with homemade buttermilk biscuits

More do prepare a Virginia style or other cured ham. Most in grocery stores are fully cooked, but do taste so much better when glazed (many use a brown sugar, orange juice, allspice and cloves or a mustard based glaze and some use Coca Cola for basting) and heated in a slow oven for an hour or more. I use a glaze with cherry preserves and fresh orange juice.

I am sure there are about a million other ways to prepare one. Many call (again, in the US Southeast) a sugar cured ham "city ham" and salt cured "country ham".

Fresh (non-cured) hams are becoming more readily available, also. Good luck with the search but I would be happy with prosciutto or Iberico ham!

also - thanks baby2 - I just sent a note to the store asking if they can reserve a ham for me to pick up saturday!

Update: We are home and the ham from the Thanksgiving store was perfect - many thanks!