HERE we are facing each other again. It’s great talking with you. So what do you plan to have for your Christmas meal?
I asked people what they want to see on their Christmas table. Majority of the people said they want to have spaghetti, bread, apples, leche flan, lechon and hamon or jamon (ham). Ham was on the list of 24 people out of the 30 I asked. Why?
I have no answer. I wouldn’t say it’s colonial mentality. No siree. It must be more. Perhaps, hams of all types and shapes represent dreams and better times. Even the cheapest ham is still expensive for some of the people I talked with.
A washerwoman said, “Lami ang ham pero mahal na kulang pa na namong tanan (ham is delicious but it’s expensive and will not be enough for all of us).” This, even after I told her she could buy 800 grams of ham for P150 or 250 grams for P79.
“Pero nindot unta kon naa para sa balay (but it would be great if there would be some for the house),” she added. There! The dream.
There are many types of ham but the most popular is the reconstituted ham. It’s made of ham bits mixed with extenders. Some great hams include prosciutto (Italy), jamon serrano and jamon Iberico (Spain), and Smithfield ham (USA).
I know you will have some kind of ham at home this Christmas. You can even make the mock ham my aunt Tita Blitte makes every year.
My aunt marinates pork in garlic, pineapple juice, light soy sauce, granulated sugar and whole peppercorn. Next day, she takes it out of the refrigerator to prepare our “Hamsville” as she calls it.
She makes a new batch of basting solution for the pork. Every so often, she bastes the pork as it cooks in the oven. Just before it’s done, she glazes it with a mixture of honey, garlic powder and soy sauce. On other years, she deep fries the pork and, when done, dresses it with a mixture of honey, soy sauce, ketchup and garlic. Uncle Gustave carves our ham at the table.
Since you know what you will do with your ham—heck, I can eat it uncooked if it’s dry-cured like prosciutto! OK, since you know what to do with our ham, let me just tell you how to select, store and prepare it.
Select your ham, honestly, based on what your pocket can stand. Seriously, if you buy fresh ham, look for one with a good balance between fat and lean meat. Cured hams should be plump.
Fresh ham may be stored up to five days in the refrigerator. Cured hams are best stored in their wrapping but only up to one week.
Grilled, baked, broiled, fried and even mixed with vegetables or pasta, ham is a valid dream item on the table. But please, don’t forget the real meaning of Christmas. For that matter, don’t forget Filipino dishes that may have foreign beginnings that have become our own: embotido, estofado, pancit, bibingka and so on.