The Venezuelan bakery is a mixture of cultures and traditions, transforming into the wonders that can be found today, something that is eaten every day but that almost no one can make.
Approximately in the 1950s, many immigrants came to make their culture known and establish businesses from abroad. In Venezuela, Portuguese people are identified as owners of bakeries due to the incredible amount of them that owns this kind of store.
The best-known pieces of bread and favorites by all are ‘pan andino’, “pan campesino”, “cachitos”, “golfeados”, sweet bread, Galician bread and the traditional “canilla”, which is very similar to the french bread, among many others.
CACHITOS
What is a Venezuelan Cachito?
It is a bread that can be made of puff pastry and inside it has pieces of ham, it is usually small and is accompanied with coffee, some fruit juice or the always reliable malt.
It is a portion of typical Venezuelan food for any breakfast. However, there are many variations that are not only with New York ham, some variations can include cheese (delicious with cream cheese), mozzarella or gouda cheese, there are also with chorizo, pepperoni, or serrano ham.
What is a Cachito made of?
It is a soft dough, which is usually made with wheat flour or in some cases with puff pastry, milk, sugar, eggs, yeast, margarine or butter, the recipe is usually very similar to that of the Christmas Ham Bread. Inside is placed ham, more recommended the new york cut into small pieces. It is rolled up and baked until golden brown.
Where is a Cachito from?
The actual record from which the Cachitos arise is unknown, but the best-known story is an invention of Portuguese immigrants who arrived in Venezuela in the early 20th century.
RECIPE
Ingredients for 10 pieces
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1/2 kilogram of wheat flour
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1/2 tablespoon of Salt
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1 cup of water
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1 tablespoon of yeast
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2 Eggs
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1/2 kilogram of Ham
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50 grams of butter
Preparation
Activate yeast
- We take a container in which we will put the tablespoon of sugar, the tablespoon of yeast and ¼ cup of milk or water, this has to be slightly warm. The temperature makes the yeast activate and thus our bread sponges better. Mix gently and reserve in a place where no draft is present. Reserve until it forms a foam or 'sponge'.
Preparation of the dough:
- We will sift the flour and place it in a container. We will put it in the shape of a volcano. We will open space or a hole in the center, add salt and the whole egg, covered with the flour that is around. Add the tablespoon of sugar, butter, milk (a little powdered), the ´esponja´ (activated yeast) and little by little we will add the remaining milk or water, slightly warm.We will mix very well, let it rest and then place the dough on a clean surface and previously dusted with flour. We knead and beat to activate the yeast. We will let it rest covered with flour and a cloth. Approximately 20 to 40 minutes.
- After a time, we divide the dough into two or three portions, we spread it in a circular shape and we will cut it in the shape of triangles, like a pizza, at the base you make a cut in half of approximately two centimeters. The ham must be previously cut between 3x2 centimeters.
- We put the ham at the base of the triangle and we will roll it until it is covered, the tip or end is fixed with a touch of water, we place it in contact with the baking tray that will be previously greased or floured. Doing a little pressure, we will make a curvature of the little pieces. You can also fill them with cheese or a combination of both.
- Let it rise at a temperature of between 20 to 30 degrees Celsius, until it reaches twice its original size. We prepare a mixture of ½ tablespoon of sugar with an egg and paint them.
- Bake at 180 to 200 degrees Celsius, for approximately 15 to 20 minutes until they have a golden color.
GOLFEADO
What is a Golfeado?
It is thus known as a type of sweet bread, typical of Venezuelan gastronomy, it is a bread roll that is usually glazed with papelón, and is accompanied with a slice of cheese.
What are Golfeados made of?
It is a dough that is rolled up in the shape of a snail for which many times they are confused or resemble the famous cinnamon rolls, in their folds, they are filled with a mixture of grated paper and white cheese.
A touch of aniseed in kind is added to give them a rich aroma when baked. If you like it, it is accompanied by a slice of cheese (or slice), it will usually be by hand or something fresh that has a soft consistency and is a little salty.
Where is Golfeados from?
For most Venezuelans, going to Los Teques or a trip to the Tovar neighborhood was synonymous with eating golfeados, since on each road there are one or more stops where they usually sell those delicious sweetbreads. The only thing that these routes coincide in is that they are routes out of Caracas.
Although it sounds unreal or unheard of, the origin of the golfeados is related to Petare, nowadays a relatively dangerous or frowned upon the sector in the state.
Although for the middle of the last century, in a town far from others and where many travelers stopped to stock up on provisions, a couple of brothers made an innovative recipe for their time where they took out steaming trays from the wood ovens they had, that recipe of laudate flour, baked to the right point, a thin ribbon of several turns, flavored with a molasses of papelón and cheese, that was his traditional recipe which was copied due to its great popularity that he was taking and greatly increased the sale of said product.
RECIPE
Ingredients
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800 grams of wheat flour.
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200 milliliters of milk.
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400 grams of white cheese.
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2 eggs
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200 grams of paper.
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100 grams of butter.
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150 grams of sugar.
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2 tablespoons of honey.
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2 tablespoons of baking powder.
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2 tablespoons of vanilla.
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1 tablespoon of salt.
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Cinnamon powder (to taste)
- Sweet anise in spice (to taste).
Preparation
- You start by preparing the papelón melado, pour ¼ of panela into a pot with water (already hot), cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the papelón has completely dissolved and becomes honey. We will let it rest.
- In a blender or deep bowl, add the milk, the two eggs, the baking powder, the butter, the vanilla, only 100 grams of sugar, and two tablespoons of the honey, stir and incorporate the flour, mix all the ingredients well until let's have a homogeneous and smooth mixture.
- When we get a consistent dough, add the anise and knead for a few more minutes. We put flour on a flat surface and place the dough to give it a rectangular shape with the help of a rolling pin until it is approximately 1 centimeter thick.
- Then we paint the dough with the papelón honey, at home that has hardened it is allowed to heat a little to melt it again.
- We add cheese to the dough and spread the rest of the sugar along with the cinnamon, roll the dough finely and carefully until making a roll.
- Cut the roll into slices of equal size, preferably larger than 5 centimeters.
- In a previously floured or buttered tray, or also with vegetable paper, we place the rolls, take it to the oven and let it rest for an hour and a half without turning it on, after time we sprinkle each roll with a little water to obtain a soft texture.
- Now we turn on the oven to 180 ºC and bake for 30 minutes, remove and paint again with papelón, bake for 5 more minutes.
- We take them out of the oven, cover them with a little grated cheese.
To enjoy! You can eat them as you want, cold, hot, at any time of the day, the golfeados are always a good idea.
