Pandesal is a popular yeast-raised bread in the Philippines. These are then portioned, allowed bicol express ingredients panlasang pinoy rise, and baked. It can also be complemented with butter, margarine, cheese, jam, peanut butter, chocolate spread, or other fillings like eggs, sardines and meat. Its taste and texture closely resemble those of the Puerto Rican pan de agua, French baguette, and Mexican bolillos.
Contrary to its name, pandesal tastes slightly sweet rather than salty. Some pandesal in supermarkets and some bakeries are less crusty and lighter in color. These also tend to have more sugar than the traditional pandesal, which only has 1. On Siargao Island, famous as a surfing spot, an oval-shaped version is locally known as “pan de surf” as it resembles a surfboard. It is baked on makeshift ovens fueled with coconut husks, and usually sold alongside pan de coco. It is characteristically purple like all ube-based dishes.
Other contemporary variants include chocolate, matcha, strawberry and blueberry flavors. A soft, yellowish type of Filipino bread roll that is similar to pandesal except that uses eggs, milk, and butter or margarine is known as Señorita bread, Spanish bread, or pan de kastila. Unlike the pandesal, it commonly has sweet fillings. Spanish-Filipino version of the French baguette baked directly on the floor of a wood-fired oven called a pugón. Pandesal flourished in the American colonial era in the early 1900s, when cheaper American wheat became readily available. It has since become a staple breakfast bread in the Philippines. Baking of pandesal in pugón has declined due to a nationwide ban on cutting mangrove trees for fuel, and bakers shifted to using gas-fired ovens.
How Pandesal Became a Filipino Breakfast Staple”. Archived February 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Pinoyslang. Siargao beyond surfing: A ‘Biyahe ni Drew’ itinerary”. Pinoy Bread: 10 Best Panaderia Classics”. The Secret History Behind Pan de Regla and Other Panaderia Eats”. Filipino dish which was popularized in the district of Malate, Manila but made in traditional Bicolano style.