Cashing In on Christmas Day Sale : * Danish-American Farms opens at 8 a.m. with exceptionally low prices on lox, whitefish and bagels.

Christmas Day hardly seems a likely time for a sale, but at Danish-American Farms in North Hills, it’s the sale of the year--and a heavily attended one at that. When the doors opened at 8 a.m. last Christmas, 275 bargain-shoppers were waiting to get a great deal on lox, whitefish and bagels.

Hand-cut belly lox, all natural with no color added, regularly sells for $11.98 per pound (at some stores it is as high as $21.98 a pound), but the sale price here is $7.98.

The deal on whole smoked whitefish is enticing, too. The whitefish, which sells in many markets for $7.98 a pound, is usually $4.98 at Danish-American Farms. At this once-a-year sale, owner Fleming Larsen cuts that price to $1.99. Fresh fish--never frozen--is delivered six days a week.

Regular prices at Danish-American are among the lowest in Southern California, and it is the only place I know of where you can buy whole sides of beef, whole forequarters or hindquarters.

This old-time, full-service meat market sells “everything but the moo” in beef, and at prices that reflect its volume business.

The beef is purchased from Harris Ranch in central California, brought by refrigerated truck to this market on Parthenia Street, where the loin meat (T-bone, porterhouse, filet mignon and prime rib from the forequarter) is aged for tenderness. During the last month, London broil and tri-tip roasts were selling for $1.49 a pound.

Besides beef, you’ll find whole sides of lamb and pork as well. Again, the volume is such that the prices remain consistently low.

Pork picnic roast, for instance, regularly sells for 69 cents a pound. Per pound, trimmed choice leg of lamb is $1.98; lamb rack, $2.98, and small loin lamb chops, $3.49. At an upscale Beverly Hills market, leg was $3.79; rack, $6.98, and chops, $9.39.

If neither meat nor fish is on your menu, there are deals in poultry as well.

Chicken, delivered daily, is not frozen, and the prices are excellent. Chicken breasts, for instance, were recently 99 cents a pound.

Danish-American Farms is unusual in other ways.

Owner Larsen was certified as a master sausage-maker in Denmark before he opened his market 16 years ago, and he himself mixes all the spices that go into the Danish, Italian, Polish and American sausages.

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If you can tear yourself away from the meat, fish, poultry and sausages, there are many authentic Danish products, such as Danish pastries, where the dough is 50% real butter and baked especially for Danish American Farms by a custom bakery in Solvang.

An authentic Danish butter ring that serves six is $4.98. On Christmas Day, only Golden Cream bagels to go with the lox are sale-priced, at 79 cents for half a dozen, and the choices are water, onion, egg and raisin.

In the cheese department, Tybo, Daenbo and Havarti cheeses are available for $4.98 a pound.

I couldn’t find the Tybo or Daenbo at another market to compare price, but the Havarti is $5.98 at Vendome and $5.79 at Gelson’s.

Danish-American Farms sends two refrigerated trucks to the produce market every morning, and the produce is always farm-fresh and reasonably priced.

With Californians coming from as far as Santa Barbara and San Diego to take advantage of the sale, Christmas morning at Danish-American Farms may well become a San Fernando Valley tradition.

WHERE TO SHOP

What: Danish-American Farms.

Location: 16212 Parthenia St., North Hills.

Sale Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Regular hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Cards: Discover, MasterCard, Visa.

Call: (818) 893-6334.