Another reason to be kosher...

This morning, a handy little eating PSA for those who try to avoid nibbling on things that should be relegated to prehistoric man's "Oh, well then, I know what that tastes like now!!!" palate discrimination.

With work slowing down to a cozy pace, I've slid once more into a comfortable 1 hour lunch routine; this has vastly expanded my options on where to dine and yesterday's adventure featured Hannah's Bretzel (a charming and healthy, but somewhat pricey, artisan sandwich shop) in Chicago's West Loop.

I wavered on which sandwich to order, finally deciding on the Madrange ham & Camembert cheese with watercress - most opportunely it appears, as my other leaning was the Black Forest ham.

Do you know why Black Forest ham is "black"? Nope, neither did I. And now I wish I didn't. Gone are my illusions of sprightly, lederhosen-clad elves herding portly black and white piglets through a forest glen, where they would be charmed to sleep by fairy pipes and expire dreaming of truffles.

The "black" is achieved by coating the ham with beef's blood during the smoking process. Ugh. Even though I hadn't ordered that particular sandwich, my stomach was upset for the remainder of the afternoon for all the times I had consumed this atrocity, now forbidden to pass my lips.

Wanna know more about ham? Here's an excellent summary of the staggering number of ham variants and their substitutions.