Ham is for the holidays

Virginia hamChristmas parties are never without food.

One gift idea is  already a staple  during celebrations —  ham.

One can easily pick ready-to-serve hams in the supermarket, among them the Cebuano brand Virgina Foods Inc. (VFI) which offers  seven types of Christmas ham to suit various budgets.

Premium hams like the Smoked Crown Roast  is a whole muscle ham made from tender pork back ribs tied and shaped like a royal crown.

The  American Tenderized Ham is also a whole muscle spiced leg ham cured with a hint of smokey flavor.

“These two are the more expensive ones  at P990 per kilo for the Smoked Crown Roast and P580 per kilo for the American Tenderized Ham,” said VFI vice president for marketing and sales Stanley Go.

Another popular  selection is the Pineapple Glazed Ham which is shaped like a ball and sold at P499 per kilo.

Others are the Season’s Delight Ham, Jamon de Bola, Pear-shaped Ham and Chicken Pear-shaped Ham.

Demand for Christmas hams started as early as November.

The company designed their boxes with Christmas themes to serve as ready gifts for the holidays.

Others who opt for  home-made traditional Cebuano flavor look for   “hamonada.”

Siblings Suzette and lawyer Ethelbert Ouano saw the business potential and started an enterprise with  their family’s favorite recipe of hamonada.

“Everyone in our family loves to cook and we can say that our hamonada is one of our specialties,” said Ouano.

His friends often request that he bring hamonada whenever they have parties

It was only this year that they started offering the dish to customers at P500 per serving.

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