Pan de Jamón

Origin

The famous ham bread is a creation that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, which little by little was transformed into a custom until becoming essential every December. But what is your true story? Here we show you.

The ham bread is exclusive to Venezuela, it was created here and only eaten here. Venezuelan writer Miro Popic, spent years researching its origin and finally everything was reflected in “The Book of Pan de Jamón”, published almost 30 years ago. At the beginning it was called “The bread with ham” as it was originally baptized, was created for the first time in 1905. A Bakery named “Ramella,” in the popular corner of Gradillas in Caracas seemed to be responsible for its invention. At that time only (Jambon de Paris,) French Style Ham that was flattened after being soaked with wines, cloves, pineapples, cinnamon and paper, was the main ingredient stuffed in the bread dough. Later, other bakeries entered the competition to make this fancy product. Initially most imitated this creation and then everyone started giving it their personal touch by adding raisins and olives. After the 1940s, the Pan de Jamón suffer its inevitable transformations and people  begin to use regular market oven ham. However, it wasn’t the same neither the dough nor the filling. Today as it is expected everything is more industrial, with less taste and art. The ham bread has undergone some alterations that go beyond its original recipe. There are versions with puff pastry, rich in butter and more brittle, and even vegetarian. Some, like hebrews for example bake it with Turkey Ham. Good for them!