The Hamgiving Sandwich Puts Easter Where It Belongs: On a Biscuit

By David Tamarkin, Epicurious

The Thanksgiving sandwich has nothing on this.

You might look at our Easter extravaganza and think “Cool—I’m totally gonna make brunch.” Me? I look at it and see a sandwich.

It’s all there: Thick-cut slices of glazed ham. Fat biscuits. Deviled eggs (perfect sandwich fare—I’ll explain in a minute). And honey mustard.

Making a sandwich from holiday leftovers is nothing new, of course. The Friday (and Saturday, and Sunday) after Thanksgiving is fueled by turkey sandwiches smeared with cranberry sauce. I’m not here to say bad things about the Thanksgiving sandwich, which has almost become as much of a tradition as the turkey itself.

But I posit that when it comes to post-holiday sandwiches, perhaps Thanksgiving gets too much attention. Turkey, after all, is famously bland. And Thanksgiving sides—sweet potatoes, that cranberry sauce—are intensely sweet. And that makes for a sandwich that can be bland, sweet—or both. Plus, what are you going to use for bread? Cornbread? Good luck with that.

The Hamgiving Sandwich—yes, I just coined that term, you’re welcome—is a different beast. The base is sweet, salty ham. The bread is a tall, buttery biscuit. Mashed deviled eggs (my choice: the pickle-spiked version) add a layer of creaminess. Mustard and pickles wake the whole thing up.

And like any holiday sandwich, this one is malleable. Got extra sautéed chard? That’s perfect. Got hard-boiled eggs instead of deviled eggs? Just mash them with a little mayo (and, if you’re me, pickle juice). Served rolls instead of biscuits? You exerted questionable judgement, my friend, but those rolls will work just fine.

I won’t insult you with a recipe—you can put together a sandwich without guidance (though we do have a few sandwich theories that may help). But I will tell you this: To make a good Hamgiving sandwich, you need a bigger ham than you think, more deviled eggs than your family can possibly eat and twice as many biscuits as you think is wise. Otherwise you may only have enough leftovers for a couple Hamgiving sandwiches, when you really need enough for seven, eight, nine, even ten. Because Easter is only one day, but Hamgiving lasts a week.

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PHOTO BY CHELSEA KYLE, FOOD STYLING BY RHODA BOONE