Sorry, I couldn’t resist. The original “chestnuts” version is one of my favorite Christmas carols… Many, many years ago, a friend’s family had a mountain top home with a large fireplace, and if I recall correctly, they had a copper chestnut roasting pan. It was the ultimate in single use kitchen/cooking implements, you loaded it with chestnuts, stuck it into the fireplace over the embers and flames, and waited for the chestnuts to pop and burst, before extracting them to eat. It’s precisely the scene I imagine when that Christmas song plays on the stereo… of course, some freshly fallen snow outdoors would help as well. :)
In tropical Cebu, we have to axe the chestnuts and roast a piggy instead. The holidays are fast approaching, and our Zubuchon Escario Central Branch is all gussied up for the holidays. We went with a red white and green theme… nothing too exciting, but certainly “classic”…
We put a couple of trees near the front entrance, hoping to make it the ideal “photo opp” for guests… and it’s done exactly that. The first night we put up the trees, I swear a family of 8 took a minimum of 30 photos by the trees and decor. Ate with friend, kneeling and holding hands, kuya with mama, mama with papa, group, etc. It was really quite amusing. Until I realized the flashes were probably annoying other guests. I wanted to go over and ask if they were going to put up a tree at home… as they already took enough photos for the entire holiday season… :)
If you happen to be in Cebu during the holidays, here’s Marketman’s insider tip… instead of a whole lechon, just order one of these Boneless Zubuchons, roughy 3-4 kilos of boneless pork belly, roasted porchetta style with local herbs and spices. We have a limited number of custom made reddish Christmas carrying baskets, and we expect brisk orders for this less expensive, easier (easy to serve and keep) and more modest sized alternative to a whole lechon. Prices range from roughly PHP1,800 – PHP2,400, depending on the final cooked weight of the Boneless Zubuchon.
To order, please call our main office during regular business hours M-F 9am-5pm. Our Boneless Zubuchons are ONLY available in Cebu at the moment, and we don’t ship them to Manila. Tel. 032-254-7342 or 032-236-5264.
34 Responses
love the basket, love zubuchon more…
Wish I could have that basket of pork under my tree…
Hi MM! Please let us know ASAP if the Boneless Zubuchon will be available in Manila so I can immediately place my order :-) Thank you!
ang sarap naman at ang ganda nyan tingnan kasama ng mga iba pang handa sa pasko.
That boneless zubuchon in that lovely basket would be the best Christmas gift ever!. Am counting down the days until we can enjoy it in Manila .
ayyy… ganda nung basket, ang sarap ng nakalagay sa basket…
very beautiful deco..
Very nice decor as usual, MM! How tall are those trees? From the picture, they seem to be over the chalk board!
Fantastic looking Christmas trees! I can never get our tree to look so ‘hitik na hitik’ with decorations, would you have any decorating tips? I may need change trees and collect a lot more decorations than we have from what I can see. I am not too keen on candy canes or cookie decorations as there are a lot of ants in our building.
A papier mâché piglet head biting on a crabapple and tiny hind trotters appended on either end of this boneless roll of roasted pork belly can definitely serve as a stunning center piece that will make the spirit definitely brighter for anyone although I’m sure a lot of people order the whole deal for a long shot at a holiday afterglow in the form of lechon paksew.
And to the winners of the puto bungbong steamers (including our beloved BettyQ) congratulations. This might be a good time to study and learn the techniques of the Heimlich maneuver. Those billets of gooey pirurutong can make anyone forget to breath and swallow.
I’m sure you’ll be getting your chesnut fix during your New England visit!
Oh, how pretty!! I don’t blame the family!! I’d have done the same..
What a wonderful gift-idea, that basket with pork-belly lechon. I may copy that idea–make a smaller version for my grand kids who love fatty pork and crispy skin. Probably have to turbo mine….
That would make an attractive Thanksgiving centerpiece!!
Footloose, funny your should mention that, we have actually been planning to make a “lechon head” and rear end with tail in red and stick them on the Boneless Zubuchon so it looks a bit like our logo, but with a daschund style body… :) We just haven’t gotten around to it…
Mimi, I suspect the culprit is a lack of ornaments. For our tree at home, we have a LOT of ornaments, and hang them in the interior branches and the exterior branches. For these trees at the stores, we bought narrow tight trees and most of the ornaments are on the outside. And the candy canes are plastic, but look really good from greater than 2 feet away, just PHP15 each at SM Home Department. But I bought everything they had in stock in Cebu… :)
Looking so festive, MM! And that’s one basket to wish for …
i love the basket! would you have any for sale at your stores? they’d be perfect for loaves or for a nice cheese assortment.
and SM’s red and white decors are particularly pretty this year.
Thanks for the tips, MM! I only have 2 small boxes of decorations for a 6-ft tree. I can imagine that I need A LOT more! I also like your narrower looking tree, mas kitang-kita nga decorations. I’ll have to ask my sister to go to SM Megamall and check those plastic candy canes and lollipops.
Right-handed persons decorated these trees :-)
Wow, I think another Zubuchon trip is due this week! hmmmmouthwatering…
MM, you said the Boneless Zubuchon is only available in Cebu AT THE MOMENT. Does it mean that it’ll be available in Manila or elsewhere in the near future, perhaps during the holidays?
MP, sorry, didn’t mean to mislead in any way… there are as yet, no plans for Boneless Zubuchons in Manila. At the earliest, we hope to finally get to Manila late 2013 if all goes well… :)
Watttttt!? A Manila branch? That’s most awaited!. Hope it’s near the airport, so I could “pass by” on my way home….Wow! This is BIG!
Happy Thanksgiving, MM and family. Yes! the picture above is just beautiful. Wish I am in Cebu so I could order that. Sorry I missed the contest.
Yehey, Manila, Manila, Manila….
Excellent decor and packaging! Can’t wait for your Manila branch to open sooner I hope :)
Beautiful tree MM! Looking forward to your annual Christmas posts!
The Boneless Zubuchon looks really tempting. I’m looking forward in trying it out as soon as we land in Cebu next year :)
And again…I am so happy I live in Cebu, thank you marketman and will be taking advantage!
That’s a pretty way to serve the porchetta. Hope you have good bread to go with it in the restaurant. I love porchetta with crusty bread!!!
Very nice decor!
Since I’m here in the US I will settle for copycat boneless Zubuchons. I’ve seen almost similar presentation on a wonderful food blogger”Oggi I can do that “. Will surely stop @Zubuchon’s ^_^
when are you going to have one here in manila?
Been reading your blog everyday but never tried to comment..I was in Cebu last nov 16 and tried to eat all the lechons on my entire 2 days stay in the city..your zubuchon is the best! and as a souvenir my husband took a picture of me beside that christmas tree in Escario branch..hope to visit your branch here in Manila soon!
I’ve been lurking your blog for I guess over 6 years now and I’ve just recently brought Zubuchon pata to Singapore. The best thing is, the skin was still crunchy after placing it in the oven. I’m wondering if you have an online ordering system so that we can buy this Boneless Zubuchon and have it delivered to our loved ones this Christmas or New Year.
iNdayDolor, thanks for trying our lechon pata! So glad it tasted good after a stint in the oven. At this point, we don’t have an online ordering capability. For holiday orders in Cebu City (not Manila or elsewhere) we do take orders and payments by bank transfer… but because of the volume of orders in December, we only do this on a “pick-up basis” and cannot deliver during this busy month. Please contact Zubuchon/Zubufoods at 032-236-5264 or 032-254-7342 during normal office hours for more information. Salamat.
please open a branch here in Manila!!! =)