Roaming the Visayas (esp Cebu), I always find people flocking to the bakeries in the afternoons. Many just buy bread ‘to go’ and some eat theirs right at these bakeshops where almost all have tables and chairs for the purpose. And trying to belong, trying to call myself now a Cebuano, I must try what they do – eat my bread at benches and tables provided by the bakeries! I actually enjoy this! It affords me more time to watch and observe my “mga higala” hehe. Plus, the interesting names these eatables bear just blows me away at times!
If you are used to cinnamon, raisin or banana bread, try
mushroom or
corn. No they are not flavored with those vegetables! These are little breads made to look like well, mushroom or corn!
Mushroom bread is that round compact kind of bread that seems to have been made so that it breaks while baking. I know this takes another name in Metro Manila and elsewhere.
Corn bread is a softer kind, elongated almost like an unbended croissant in shape but the dough had been crisscrossed with a knife so that when baked, it does have a semblance to the shape of a real corn cob!
Thus, you should now know what a “Lechon Bread” is, right? Yeah, those pig-shaped loaves do look interestingly delectable! Haven’t tried that one yet (due to the size since am usually alone eating them), but soon I will!
Now what is this thing called
Binangkal? It is another heavy-to-the-stomach kind of bread, though I was surprised to find this one at bakeries since it actually is not baked but deep-fried! This one too comes in many names depending where you would be in the Visayas. I seem to remember this is called something else in Manila (though I can’t recall exactly), while it is also called “
Kabak” in other places! Is this the same as the “
buñuelos” (aka bunyelos) I saw in many parts of Eastern Samar? Looks like! I did notice that this thing is externally peppered with sesame seeds – usually, but sometimes not!
Hey that Polvoron surprised me! I didn’t know it is also the name of a bread. Or more appropriately a cookie! All along I was thinking that polvoron is that sweet powder concoction everyone buys at Goldilocks! That one in the picture above is obviously not hehe. Its a round, flat, brittle cookie and sweeter than the usual breads it seems to belong to another category!
Here is another fried (not baked) bread called:
Siakoy. This bread’s name poked the curiosity of my aging brain not because I have seen its name displayed on a glass shelf but I heard a Korean asking for it! The atrevida in me discreetly moved nearer to hear what he was saying. Well, he was clearly pronouncing it as “sya-koi” which was just how the bakeshop attendant also pronounced it. Korean gone, I asked the attendant if that bread was ‘kind of Korean in origin’. Faking sarcasm, the attendant made a funny face and said “excuse me lang sir ha, Siakoy already alive before Korean invasion”! I think we call this “
pilipit” in Manila. Yep, the twisted bread!
Oh,
Pan De Coco is not a funny name, right? It’s common to see these all over the archipelago, right? But this bread still gets an honorable mention here due to it’s size. Yeah, in Manila any “pan de coco” is just about two inches in diameter (or a little bit bigger) that you can even toss whole to your mouth. Correct? Yes, correct! But don’t you do so in Cebu! Hindi kaya! Their pan de coco here is about the size of a burger bun hehe, You will need to have a real big bunganga to do it!
Hard Monay was a puzzle. Filipinos everywhere know what is a monay, right? I mean the real monay bread from bakeshops and not anybody else’s “monay”! When I first heard someone saying “hard monay”, I got curious. How would one eat monay if it was hardened? But when I looked, the “hard monay” did not at all appear to be anything hard. AND, it’s not round too! It is about the shape and size of Spanish Bread without the crumbs. It’s topped with something sweet. Ah just see the picture hehe!
All of them breads above come from Julie's Bakeshop. But I'll try to catch if they are named the same at others like San Jose, Arbee's, Maiqui's etc.
Let’s stop here for now, but I know there will be more. Some breads in the Visayas have funny names. Some even outright lewd hahaha! Coming soon!
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