“THE HUMBLE ham sandwich remains a champion in our homes,” opens today’s oddest press release (so far).

Bord Bia’s been bragging about the prominence of the bread-and-ham combination, heralding a poll which found that 79 per cent of Irish people believe the sandwich still forms “a key component of important family gatherings”.

The survey proclaims that Irish culinary tastes remain quite simple, with 44 per cent of people choosing to shirk any extra addition and to merely include butter or mayonnaise (or neither) in their ham sandwich. 23 per cent of people supplemented their ham with cheese.

59 per cent of people always enjoy a cup of tea when enjoying a hambo (see what we did there?), while 49 per cent of respondents said they would use two slices of ham per sandwich – though two out of three admitted to eating a sneaky slice while making their meal. Female respondents were more likely to prefer thinner slices.

Pressingly, 42 per cent of people said they preferred to cut their sandwiches diagonally, though one in five people said they ate their hambo whole instead of cutting it into shorter pieces first.

The presser comes as the authority launches its ‘I Love Ham Sandwiches’ campaign which encourages consumers to admit their fondness for the sandwich – and to choose ham with the Bord Bia quality mark.

That campaign features Gift Grub’s Mario Rosenstock (pictured), who has been channelling his own love for the hambo through Roy Keane, Daniel O’Donnell and Michael Flatley. It’s also hoping to get #ilovehamsandwiches trending on Twitter.

Poll – The burning question*: How should sandwiches be cut?>