Cavalia Chef Divulges Traditional “HAY HAM” Recipe
in Time for Easter Dinner

DALLAS – Hay is not just for horses on tour with the grand-scale equestrian spectacle Cavalia. Once a week, the cast and crew of the multi-media production running in Dallas through Easter, enjoy “Hay Ham” with their Sunday brunch. It’s prepared with a flake of their equine co-performers’ daily repast, in the old Quebec tradition. Really!

“This is an old French entrée where a smoked ham is simmered in a pot with large clumps of hay,” explains Yves Babineau, Executive Chef on tour with Cavalia. “The hay tenderizes the meat while extracting some of the salt and adding some flavor to the dish,” adds Babineau, who creates the menu and cooks (lunch and dinner six days a week) for the 120 permanent employees on tour with the show.

Still prepared in some rural areas of Quebec (Cavalia is headquartered in Montreal), Hay Ham is traditionally called “jambon au foin” due to the practice of literally surrounding the ham—top to bottom—in hay.

Prior to joining Cavalia, Babineau spent two years as executive chef for Club Med in the Bahamas on Paradise Island and Columbus Island; he also worked for Club Med in Colorado. As executive chef for Cavalia, the biggest challenge is offering a variety of selections. Each meal includes pasta, meat, fish, and vegetarian entrees, plus a salad bar and desserts. For certain meals, like Sunday brunch, omelets are cooked on the spot.

The secret behind Babineau’s savory brunch ham was known for months to only the kitchen staff and Cavalia’s 50 horses. The truth slipped out when the tour was in Washington, DC, and a grocery order was overheard.

To enjoy Hay Ham for your Easter holiday, just follow the recipe. Just think of it as a little secret between you and our four-legged friends. Cavalia next travels to Canada, where the show opens May 4 in Laval, a suburb of Montreal.