Pan de Sal

"Usually I was in bed by ten and up by five and thus was ready for one more day of my fourteenth year. Unless Grandmother had forgotten, the fifteen centavos for the baker down Progreso Street - and how I enjoyed jingling those coins in my pocket!- would be in the empty fruit jar in the cupboard. I would remember then that rolls were what Grandmother wanted because recently she had lost three molars. For young people like my cousins and myself, she had always said that the kind called pan de sal ought to be quite all right.
The bread of salt! How did it get that name? From where did its flavor come, through what secret action of flour and yeast? At the risk of being jostled from the counter by early buyers, I would push my way into the shop so that I might watch the men who, stripped to the waist, worked their long flat wooden spades in and out of the glowing maw of the oven. Why did the bread come nut-brown and the size of my little fist? And why did it have a pair of lips convulsed into a painful frown? In the half light of the street, and hurrying, the paper bag pressed to my chest, I felt my curiosity a little gratified by the oven-fresh warmth of the bread I was proudly bringing home for breakfast."
from Bread of Salt by N.V.M. Gonzalez



Almost everyone I know who grew up in the Philippines has fond memories of Pan de Sal. Pan de Sal - the soft bread roll with a crusty exterior, dusted with bread crumbs and can be eaten any time of the day. One of the fondest memories from my childhood is waiting for the manong/manang who would be calling out, "Pan de Sal kayo riyan.", early in the morning to sell their bread. Or, going to the nearest sari-sari store to buy a several rolls which were placed in brown paper bags. My earliest recollection is that a large pan de sal went for 25 centavos apiece (yes, that was ages ago.) Pan de Sal (with butter, corned beef, hotdogs, strawberry jam, cheez whiz, or matamis na bao) was the only other alternative to the rice and viand breakfast as we were growing up. No other bread can beat the Pan de Sal!


Now that I have children of my own, I have found that making your own pan de sal is quite a satisfying experience. The aroma of bread baking in the oven is heavenly. And though it takes time to get a batch of bread out, the process of bread-making is quite therapeutic and relaxing. My young children help out in almost every step of the bread making. They measure ingredients, knead the dough, and roll the dough in bread crumbs. They also keep me in check as to whether the bread is done (they practically do nothing except wait near the oven until the bread is done baking.) As soon the as the rolls come out of the oven, they vanish into thin air.

It took me some time to find a recipe for Pan de Sal. I've looked into Spanish breads following the logic that Pan de Sal has its roots from our conquistadors. The recipe that closely resembles the one I use is for the Spanish Country bread called bolillos. However, I found that Brazil has its own Salt bread called pao de sal which has its origin from the French baguette. With some experimentation, I have settled on a recipe that produces the crusty exterior I like and can easily be modified to suit my children's taste (they like the soft roll dusted with seasoned bread crumbs.) The only modification comes from how the dough is made to rise and how it is baked. The rising of the dough plays a crucial role in producing fine threads inside the bread. The oven temperature, on the other hand, is important to get either the crusty or soft exterior.

to be continued...