Coca-Cola Is The Sweet And Tangy Ingredient Your Christmas Eve Ham Needs

Sweet and savory go together like peanut butter and jelly, which are, of course, also sweet and savory. Savory pork pairs beautifully with many sweet flavors. But if you're making a ham, which is even saltier than a normal pork roast, you can up the sweet factor in what goes with it just in time for the holidays. That's why ham is so often served with pineapple or a honey or brown sugar glaze. If you're looking for a fun twist on that for your ham this Christmas Eve, try using Coca-Cola in your glaze instead.

A good glaze will bring out the natural flavor of a ham — its saltiness, smokiness, and those umami notes — while contrasting with sweetness. The play between them elevates ham from something that could otherwise be one-note to a much more dynamic dish. In addition, it can offer a textural contrast by locking in moisture as it caramelizes and creates a crust on the exterior. Coca-Cola has the basic elements you want from a glaze that are obvious right away.

Since the beverage is a sugary liquid, it will reduce to a beautiful sticky syrup that's perfect for glazing ham. The dark color makes a great, shiny exterior, and the flavors in Coke (which combine well with brown sugar and cinnamon) really enhance the pork. There's also another reason soda works so well as a glaze or marinade: the acid that helps tenderize the meat. For a dazzling holiday ham, don't sleep on the Coca-Cola.

To achieve this Coke-glazing, put your ham in a roasting pan and pour a bottle of Coca-Cola over it, then put it in the oven. However, that's not really a proper glaze. It will reduce as it cooks, but you're not getting what you want out of it. Reduce it first, concentrating the flavors and thickening it so your glaze is rich and sticky. Amp up the sweetness of your glaze with some dark brown sugar. If you're looking for spicy notes, try cinnamon and ginger.

You can also get more complex with a Coke and bourbon glaze. For tangy contrast, try adding apple cider vinegar and Dijon mustard. You'll still want to reduce the mixture down on the stovetop until it coats the back of a spoon to ensure it sticks to the ham.

Because most ham is precooked, when you put it in the oven, you're really just heating it through, not fully baking it, so be sure it's heated through before you add the glaze. Sugars will burn if exposed to high oven heat for too long, so you don't want the glaze on your ham for the entire cooking time. Instead, pull the ham out of the oven when there's a half hour left and glaze it then. To really build the flavor, you can glaze the ham every 10 minutes for the last half hour. Use a Coca-Cola glaze with your favorite baked ham recipe and see the results for yourself this holiday season.