This all started with my love for bread. Growing up in the Philippines, my parents ran a Sari-Sari store, also known as a convenience store. My mother and father would work together early in the morning to knead pandesal dough to sell fresh at our store. I would always remember smells of fresh pandesal in the morning. Pandesal was always popular; nothing remained after they were baked. Thankfully, my parents always saved enough for my siblings and I to share and eat at breakfast. Because it was so delicious, I could easily eat 3 to 4 pandesal in one sitting!
We moved to the United States when I was 14 years old, and Filipino bread was something I always craved. It was not until I married and had children that I realized I wanted my children to wake up to the aroma of freshly baked pandesal in the morning.
In the year 2020, when everyone was forced to stay at home, I began teaching myself to bake and began perfecting my very own pandesal recipe. It only took me once to recall the flavor of my childhood pandesal. Since then, I have always baked it for my family and brought it to gatherings. I thought to myself, this bread should be shared and enjoyed by everyone.
Now that you are here, I would like to share with you all a taste of my childhood and the flavor of the Philippines' most versatile bread roll.