Dictionary

deviled ham en · NOUN

Etymology

From associating hot or spicy food with the Devil; see devil (verb); compare deviled egg(s), deviled crab, devilled sausages.

Meanings

1. (US, uncountable, usually) A mixture of ground ham with seasoning, making it spicy.
   • Among the half-ton of canned goods were some canned meats which we have found a most welcome change from challona and charque and which we have eaten up, primarily to reduce weight, and with the secondary consideration that the jungles teem with meat. But there were certain choice tongues and deviled hams which the Director rigidly insisted on conserving against possible sickness when appetites would need to be tempted. 1926, Gordon MacCreagh, “Impedimenta”, in White Waters and Black, New York, N.Y.; London: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 124:
   • This recipe was passed down from my wife’s grandmother Gammy Brown to my wife’s mother, Audrey, and eventually to Nancy. Neither of them ever measured anything or wrote down recipes. No two deviled hams were alike, but damned if they weren’t all good. 2012, Bruce Aidells with Anne-Marie Ramo, “Gammy Brown’s Deviled Ham”, in The Great Meat Cookbook, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, “Pork” section, page 364:
   • Sherry brought a couple of beers and a plate of deviled ham spread on Ritz crackers. 1996 April, anonymous, as told to Cathy Crimmins and Tom Maeder, chapter 1, in Primary Whites: A Novel Look at Right-Wing Politics, West Hollywood, Calif.: Dove Books, →ISBN, page 20:
   • Structures flabby; tongue coated heavily; appetite irregular; may not eat much through the day, but will eat the more at night. Has great fondness for goose livers, deviled hams, lobster salads, smoked tongues, marinirte (pickled) herrings, etc. 1897 May 1, H[enry] Illoway, “Cardiac Disturbances from Gastric Irritation”, in Frank P[ierce] Foster, editor, The New York Medical Journal. A Weekly Review of Medicine., volume LXV, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton and Company, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 588, column 1:

Forms

Translations (2)

grc ματτύη (a mixture of ground ham with seasoning) · pl pikantna pasta z szynki (a mixture of ground ham with seasoning)