Jamon.

Last Thursday, we went to the place of our childhood, Sta. Ana.  On our way to Shaw Blvd., at Gen. Kalentong, I suddenly remembered the ham of our childhood, Adelina's.

I had to drive slow, ignoring the jeepneys at my tail so I could properly locate the tiny store. It was still there.

Years and years ago, when my father didn't get his usual Holiday gifts of raw Chinese ham (pata ng jamon), my mother used to buy the Chinese ham at Adelina's.  It was similar to the ham sold at Echague's and my mother bought it 

here because she didn't want to travel all the way to Quiapo.

If my father got ham as gift from his Chinese clients, my Ate cooked it 

on New Year's eve.  

She boiled it in a mixture of beer, pineapple juice, muscovado sugar, sometimes with Seven Up, until fat comes dripping out. During the Media Y Noche, that ham looked as yummy delicious as the Echague ham. We usually enjoyed ham until February because Father sometimes got more than one ham as gift. 

Ham reminds me of the Spanish film Jamon Jamon, which star Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, a 1992 Spanish drama/comedy film directed by Bigas Luna. " It centers around a young woman named Silvia played by Cruz. The film is bursting with sexual energy and twisted romantic relationships. The film is an allegory for Spain itself and the director engages in word play and pun. It rhapsodizes on the juxtaposition of old and new in Spain and many other emotional contrasts such as erotic desire and food."  Even the director's name, Bigas, (rice) connotes food. 

At Adelina's, the store clerk asked if we wanted the scraps or the sliced ham. We bought the sliced ham with the honey sauce that goes with it.  The following morning, breakfast consisted of raisin bread, ham, pancakes and coffee.

So the TV commercial I ranted about in a previous post,  the one about Christmas in December and fruit cocktail today, somehow stirred memories of the Holiday Season in my subconscious.  

Ham is an everyday staple in North America and Canadian ham/bacon is well known throughout the world.  But although ham is readily available in Toronto, there would be times when I longed for the jamon back home.

I remember some Christmases in Toronto when I bought cooked ham but cooked it again in maple syrup laced with pineapple juice to get the jamon taste I liked.  Of course, I was fooling myself.

After tasting the Adelina's ham, I now look forward to the Echague ham.

UPPER LEFT, Canadian bacon/ham.