On 6/15/2010 2:34 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:41:30 -0400, Kate Connally wrote:
>
>> On 6/14/2010 2:57 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
>>
>>> But what do I know - I'm from Pittsburgh, and getting ready to
>>> make ham barbecues, in fact. Already have the sauce simmering on
>>> very low. And 1.5lbs of chipped ham ready to take the plunge.
>>
>> Mmmm. Do you mean "chipped ham" bbq. I haven't had that in a while.
>> I guess I could make it myself, but my aunt always used to make it for
>> Memorial Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day picnics/dinners. She didn't
>> make it this year because now her daughter who lives at home has decided
>> she doesn't like it! Hmmpf! Throw her out, I say!
>>
>> I guess I'm going to have to make it myself. I always used the bbq
>> aauce recipe from the Good Housekeeping Cookbook.
>
> As promised, A Genuine Pittsburgh Ham Barbecue. AKA Chipped
> Chopped Ham Barbecue Sandwich. Sans Isaly's brand chipped ham (I
> had to use Hill Country Fare brand).

Funny - although I grew up in Pittsburgh and ate chipped ham
bbq all my life I never heard the phrase "chipped chopped" ham
until Rick Sebak came out with those shows about Pittsburgh.
Maybe it was the area in which I grew up and mostly lived - McKees
Rocks, Kennedy Twp. But I lived with my aunt in Plum Boro
for quite a few years and I never heard it out there either.
I also lived in Mt. Pleasant, Scottsdale area in high school
but don't remember if people there even ate chipped ham bbq.
Anyway, it was just chipped ham to us. And I don't remember
it having to be from Isaly's, although they, of course, were
famous for it. But you could get just a good from other
places. We did go to Isaly's for the skyscraper ice cream
cones but I think my grandma got her meat from an independent
butcher shop down the block from Isaly's in West Park. I'm sure
we got the chipped ham there. In later years I would get it
in the supermarket. I never had a problem getting it thin
enough.

> This ham was still but way too thick. It's very hard to drill it
> into the deli folks how *thin* you want the ham. And the slicers
> aren't automated like they were at Isaly's deli's and Arby's. So
> asking for "chipped" ham means they need a *lot* of elbow grease
> to crank out 1.5lbs of chipped ham.

Oh yeah, that's for sure hard work!

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?