Based in Manila, Philippines, Dessert Comes First is a chronicle of the food-obsessed food writer, Lori Baltazar. This website is all about desserts, restaurants, coffee, and the pleasures of homebaking. Read more about me The 10 Best Christmas Gifts to Give The Food Lover On Your List #3: A Real Ham
Sun, December 3rd of 2006
7:14 pm
What is ham but simply the leg of a pig cured for several days or months by salting and drying. A minute amount of saltpeter (salitre) is added to improve penetration and to give hams that characteristic pink color.
It’s the ham that I remember most about my childhood Christmases. Back then, my lolo (grandfather) would buy ham from the PX stores in Clark when the US Bases were still there. For Christmas dinner, Lolo would slice half-inch cuts for each of us eagerly gathered around the table. I remember the slices to be square in shape with striations of fat coursing through the pink, juicy meat. Sometimes I’d be lucky enough to get some of the pinkish-beige ham jelly that would stick to the corners.
When the Bases closed down, the ham disappeared from our Christmas table only to be replaced by Yunnan or some such Chinese ham; but they never came close to the ham of my early Christmases. Looking back now, I realize that the ham I loved then was probably some tinned variety — fake stuff that probably couldn’t be called ham these days. But to my young palate back then, it was juicy goodness that I couldn’t get enough of. I smile wistfully now writing about it.
A good ham should be plump, with a sufficient layer of fat under the rind. It was the Gauls, great devotees of pork and efficient pig breeders, who were famed for the curing of cuts of pork. They ate their ham either at the beginning of a meal to sharpen their appetites, or at the end to induce thirst – now you understand why many Christmas dinners begin with an ensaymada (Filipino “brioche”) and a slice of ham.
Though there are some hams that are eaten raw, most of what we know as ham in this country is eaten cooked. Most hams are cooked by a combination of methods: gently simmered in a large pot (to reduce saltiness and improve flavor) and then finished off in the oven; some hams are baked from start to finish.
Though I’ve gotten used to not having ham at Christmas, this year I feel a yearning for it. I want a real ham, not bits and pieces of meat molded together, which is what most of the local Christmas hams are. They aren’t bad mind you, but I just want something different this year. A particular chef-friend of mine whom I’ve written about on this blog before, hears about my wish. He becomes my Santa this year when he gifts me with a 5-kilo ham (!) that he’s cured and ccoked.
While I desperately want to reveal who he is, I can’t because he doesn’t accept orders for his ham. Suffice it to say that he’s one person who remembers every flavor he’s come across and, like an alchemist, intuits the associations of flavor and food, the interactions and harmonies between them. For this ham, he’s transformed a whole deboned pork leg into magnificence: aromas of earth and spice perform a dance that tickle my nose. Glazed with a caramel coating that cracks with the puncture of my knife, ripples of juice roll out. I smell smoke and the sweet, sweet smell of pork. My heart does a little pitter-patter.
“Eat the ham with some orange and pear slices, perhaps some grapes too,” my chef-friend suggests. So I do. The meat is firm and juicy to the bite, the ham fills my mouth and mind with memories. Sweet, salty, smoky. This is such a treat. And enormously uplifting. My heart is happy, and for a while, it’s almost like I’m that little girl many Christmases ago. A good ham will do that to you.
Barring any begging from chefs who know how to cure their own ham, here are some other places that sell a ham that is grandly, indubitably, superior to the kind found in corporate Christmas packages and supermarkets:
The Plaza Premium Baked Ham
(632) 729-0003
website
Majestic Ham
website
« The 10 Best Christmas Gifts to Give The Food Lover On Your List #2: Two Cute Pots
The 10 Best Christmas Gifts to Give The Food Lover On Your List #4: Aromatherapy for the Foodie »
15 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Leave a comment
Submit your comment once. It will not show up right away.
REAL ham!!!
hwoaw…
Sarap naman nun!
Ako puro fiesta ham ang binibili namin eh. Inaayos na lang ng father ko ung lasa. My father uses beer, Sprite/7-up and some red sugar. =D
Ang swerte mo naman. Ang dami mong friends na chef. =D
[Reply]
Comment by The Chad — December 3, 2006 @ 11:59 pm
If anyone can get their hands on some decent uncooked ham, I’d gladly post a recipe here for anyone who wants to try their hands on cooking one.
[Reply]
Comment by Cusinero Ge — December 4, 2006 @ 1:17 pm
The Plaza was also the one place we would get roasted turkeys during special occasions; this was way before Butterball turkeys became commonplace in local groceries and my sister and I learned to prepare turkeys on our own. =)
[Reply]
Comment by wysgal — December 4, 2006 @ 1:54 pm
I love The Plaza’s ham! Whenever I’m in Megamall, i pass by their food stall and buy a ham sandwich. Really good…
[Reply]
Comment by Pilar — December 4, 2006 @ 3:31 pm
Majestic Ham! I’m glad it’s finally getting the recognition it deserves. Being a Mandaluyong-ite, I grew up eating that ham (and Adelina’s Ham) at Noche Buena.
[Reply]
Comment by pj — December 5, 2006 @ 3:19 pm
Those grapes should be frozen. Only then the gift will be complete.
( Pity those who’ve never tasted frozen red grapes before ..)
[Reply]
Comment by Juice Maniac — December 5, 2006 @ 7:26 pm
I do so love a good ham. It’s a pity your friend doesn’t do orders; he bakes a mean ham. Yummers.
[Reply]
Comment by Eric — December 6, 2006 @ 7:13 am
Ham… glorious ham…before people used to buy the Kim Hua Chinese Ham in Ongpin (don’t know if it’s still there…just try to find) but even with sugar it’s still salty. Fiesta hams are ok, but Excelente in Echague Quiapo is the granddaddy of all hams… all year ’round! In Ongpin and other parts of Chinatown, for those non-meat eaters there’s the vegetarian ham in vegetarian stores or restaurants (try happy veggie in Benavides Or Banaue QC) where a roll (not big) costs between 150-300 depende if local or Taiwan.
[Reply]
Comment by cherilyn — December 6, 2006 @ 1:26 pm
handsome looking ham you got there. does anyone out there know the basics of ham curing? i may want to try it out this year if i find the time to do it. what is the difference between salt peter and prague powder? where can i get those stuff?
[Reply]
Comment by Anonymous — December 6, 2006 @ 2:30 pm
Christmas does evoke so many food memories, especially of all the things we don’t have the rest of the year. My mom always had two hams during the season, a chinese ham (usually we’d get them in November and they’d be hanging up for another month for added curing, don’t know if that really made a taste difference. Like eating salt with meat) and the Western ham, baked the night before xmas (and another one for new years), bespoked with cloves and a bitter orange marmalade. That, with queso de bola, ensymada and hot chocolate made christmas for all of us. Presents be damned, had to have the ham!
[Reply]
Comment by Mila Tan — December 8, 2006 @ 8:39 am
When in Cagayan de Oro City, don’t leave without the ham. OroHam, SLERS, PINE or Darling its what we are proud of. http://www.slers.com
[Reply]
Comment by ihid — December 12, 2006 @ 12:53 pm
For great ham, Adelina’s top our list. I think they’re in Mandaluyong (I’m not so sure because it’s always my mom and dad who gets it). The meat is soft and smoky and it comes with a sweet syrup.
Second on my list is Majestic. This is saltier than Adelinas and rather old school.
[Reply]
Comment by Rhea — January 21, 2007 @ 5:27 pm
I love ham, The commercial hams are okay but they lack the essence of what christmas hams are all about. commercial hams are just for profit this holiday season no love nor spirit whatsoever….
[Reply]
Comment by Steve — December 19, 2007 @ 9:41 pm
great ham!!
if you are not sure whether you can perfect your holiday ham… get it from us…
please visit us at http://themeatgallery.blogspot.com/
http://themeatgallery.multiply.com/
[Reply]
Comment by tmgallery — October 21, 2009 @ 4:14 pm
This looks delicious. I really can’t wait for this Christmas, could someone point me in the right direction on how to make this?
[Reply]
Comment by Stuart Plumbing — September 14, 2010 @ 10:28 pm