Where did the names of Filipino breads come from?

For a supposedly rice-eating people, Filipinos also love our breads. To celebrate Filipino American History Month, Filipino Food Crawl created an EATymology series to explore the stories behind the name of some of our favorite breads — the pandesal, ensaymada, mamon, hopia, biscocho, kalihim, bicho-bicho, and monay.

It’s amazing how one could learn so much about Filipino history and culture just by unpacking the stories behind food names. I fell into the rabbit hole of trying to find out the most definitive source for the posts. I read all the articles I could find online, consulted multiple books, and whenever possible I sought the advice of experts on Filipino cuisine. The chase was just as thrilling as discovering the answers.

Working on this series has also let me collaborate with the talented home baker Tina Delos Reyes who cooked along using Goldilocks’ recipes. Check out her site and Instagram @eggmarksthespot

If you enjoyed this post, check out this EATymology series on Filipino dishes. All photos are from our sponsor Goldilocks and all text is written by Raf Ignacio of Filipino Food Crawl.

Sources:
Panaderia: Philippine Bread, Biscuit, and Bakery Traditions by Amy A. Uy, Jenny B. Orillos, and Jill F. Sandique (2015)⁠
Philippine Food, Cooking, & Dining Dictionary by Edgie Polistico (2016)⁠