A Pinoy in the Philippines: Ham for Christmas!

During Christmas, having ham during noche buena (Christmas dinner) is part of the Philippine tradition. It was the Spaniards who literally brought this tradition (and recipe, too) to the Philippines when, during their year-long voyages across the oceans, they brought with them on their ships preserved food which lasted even without cooking.


And so, this tradition continues.


That's why during our noche buena, we had a whole leg of a ham sitting on our Christmas dinner table enjoyed by everyone, just like the Spanish times.

And since it's always impossible to finish the whole leg of a ham in one day, we were able to enjoy the left over ham bits as filling for our pan de sal for snacks!  Pan de sal is Spanish for 'salt bread', a very common bread in the Philippines usually enjoyed during breakfast (and paired with coffee). 

I wish I could bring these leftover ham bits to Seoul...but I doubt if the Korean Customs would let me. 


So I better finish all this ham now...with pan de sal! Burp!