Let's talk about Venezuelan tradition, let's talk about ham bread

bloguerouniversal

· 27 Dec 2021

Let's talk about Venezuelan tradition, let's talk about ham bread

The #pandejamon is a bread filled with ham, sautéed bacon (also called smoked bacon), raisins and green olives, usually stuffed with red pepper or paprika. It is a typical bread from Venezuela, which is part of the country's Christmas gastronomy. There are some variations in the ingredients, such as turkey ham and cream cheese among others, and a variant has been created in the bread using puff pastry dough. This bread is a Venezuelan creation from the beginning of the 20th century whose consumption and manufacture gradually became a Christmas custom until it became essential every December.

History behind

According to Miro Popić, a Venezuelan journalist and columnist specializing in gastronomy, the recipe for ham bread was attributed to Gustavo Ramella, owner of a bakery located on the corners of Marcos Parra and Solis in the city of Caracas in December 1905. Apparently, at that time I only had ham as a filling. Its rapid acceptance caused other famous bakeries, such as those in Montalbán and Banchs to incorporate it into their offer, adding the latter raisins to it1 By the 1920s there were varieties with other ingredients such as almonds, olives, walnuts and capers. Subsequently, thanks to its attractiveness and quality, its consumption expanded throughout the national territory, especially during the Christmas holidays.

Some variants when it comes to tasting ham bread:

Over time, it has had several variations, namely:

Traditional (being the most popular)
With cream cheese
With puff pastry
With turkey breast

In picture: Traditional with cream cheese.

Venezuelan friends, I invite you to share photos of your ham breads!