Pan-de-sal

Good morning everyone!

I was thinking on what to write while eating pandesal and drinking a cup of hot chocolate, and then I thought that not everyone here on this platform knows what pandesal is.

History

Pandesal was usually made of wheat flour before but the result is it hard and crustier. And because wheat is not natively produced in the Philippines, the ingredients was switched into flour which resulted in the softer, doughy texture of the bread.

Back when there is no issue on the environment, pandesal was baked on the floor of a wood-fired oven. But right now, bakers usually use gas oven.

Pandesal

A small oval, loaves which are slightly sweet. It got its name from a Spanish word pan-de-sal which literally means “bread of salt”.

It is a famous breakfast along with hot coffee or chocolate among Filipino family. It is eaten mostly while it’s hot because it gets hard when it became colds. But Filipinos still eat it even it is cold, as the there is a phrase “walang matigas na tinapay sa mainit na kape”. We usually dip the cold pandesal on our hot coffee or hot chocolate to make it soft and moisten.

Long before, pandesal was only served in the morning for morning consumption. But today, it can be eaten any time of the day.

Pandesal can be complemented by any fillings that you want like butter, jams, chocolate, egg, etc.

There are many variants of pandesal nowadays that emerged on the market. Naming some is cheese pandesal, ube pandesal, malunggay pandesal and others more.

Thoughts

Pandesal will always be a part of Filipino culture. Nothing can replace what we have accustomed to. So if you ever visit here on the Philippines, try pandesal. Your visit won’t be full if you won’t try our accustomed breakfast.