We all have childhood memories; smells, tastes, textures. One particular food memory for me was when my maman would boil a ham. It sounds pretty simple, and it was, but what came out of this ham was pretty darn good. The boiling liquid would get saved for ham and pea soup, and after a few days of ham with beans or potato salad, we would take all the little bits and pieces leftover and make "jambon dans le petit moulin" which is basically ham passed through the grinder.
I still remember the first time my husband came to visit me at my parents' place and the look of wonder on his face when I pulled out an old school, hand cranked meat grinder and set it up at the end of the kitchen table. With ham scraps in hand, some celery, onion, mayo, relish and mustard, the magic began. The meat, onions and celery go through the meat grinder (followed by a wee bit of bread to clean it all out), mix with the other ingredients and savour the flavour of this yummy ham mix. To this day, it is a special treat to make and eat.
