Pambazo () is a Mexican dish or '' antojito'' (very similar to the

torta Torta is a culinary term that can, depending on the cuisine, refer to cakes, pies, flatbreads, sandwiches, or omelettes. Usually, it refers to: * cake or pie in South America, much of Europe, and southern Philippines * flatbread in Spain * a t ...

) made with pambazo bread dipped and fried in a red '' guajillo'' pepper sauce. It is traditionally filled with ''papas con chorizo'' (

potatoes The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

with

chorizo ''Chorizo'' ( , ; ; see #Names, below) is a type of pork sausage originating from the Iberian Peninsula. It is made in many national and regional varieties in several countries on different continents. Some of these varieties are quite differe ...

) or with ''papas'' only but there are different varieties.

Ingredients and preparation

Pambazos are made from white bread without a crispy crust. The bread is filled with potato and chorizo, dipped in warm red '' guajillo'' pepper sauce, fried, and garnished with shredded lettuce, '' salsa'' (sauce), crema (cream), and queso fresco (fresh cheese). In the Mexican state of

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

at social events, small sized pambazos called pambacitos ("little pambazos") are served instead of

canapé A canapé () is a type of starter, a small, prepared, and often decorative food, consisting of a small piece of bread (sometimes toasted) or cracker, wrapped or topped with some savoury food, held in the fingers and often eaten in one bite. N ...

History

The pambazo bread got its name from the Ladino word ''pan basso'' (Spanish ''pan bajo'') or low-class bread from Mexico's viceregal period. During that period, there were bakeries in Mexico dedicated solely to this type of bread named 'panbasserias' (''pambacerías''). :''"On this type of bread, inferior quality flour or flour from deteriorated wheat were mixed to produce the pan basso. Bakeries produced minimal quantities of pan basso, a maximum of 4% of all flour in Mexico City"'' :Virginia García Acosta, Las panaderías, sus dueños y trabajadores. Ciudad de México. Siglo XVII.

Varieties

State of Mexico

In some villages from State of Mexico, the pambazos are made with Semitic Mediterranean cuisine influence by the use the ''acemite'' or bran for bread made in artisan bakeries about horns of Spanish colonial period, as the case of

Malinalco Malinalco () is the municipalities of Mexico, municipality inside of Ixtapan Region, is a town and municipality located 65 kilometers south of the city of Toluca in the south of the western portion of the State of Mexico. Malinalco is southwest o ...

, Tequixquiac and Amecameca. In Malinalco, state of Mexico makes other pambazos, a Spanish colonial meal are made flour more small to Mexico City pambazos, filled with sausage and potatoes, chicken meat with

epazote ''Dysphania ambrosioides'', formerly ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'', known as epazote, Jesuit's tea, Mexican tea or wormseed, is an annual or short-lived perennial herb native to the Americas. Description ''Dysphania ambrosioides'' is an annual p ...

, shredded lettuce, white cheese, cream and spicy salsa. In the Mexican state of Tequixquiac, pambazos are very different from those of Mexico City, being made with flour with dark wheat rind or bran named acemite, filled with sausage and potatoes, turkey meat or lamb meat (barbacoa), shredded lettuce, white cheese, cream and spicy chili chipotle sauce, fried with butter. The name is registered in this place as ''pan bazo'', an archaic Spanish word.

State of Puebla

In Puebla City, pambazos are made with flour named '' cemita'' or acemite, sausages, potatoes,

avocado The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear (''Persea americana'') is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to Americas, the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It was priz ...

, papalo, white cheese, and cream.

State of Veracruz

Orizaba Orizaba (, Otomi: ) is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located 20 km west of its sister city Córdoba, and is adjacent to Río Blanco and Ixtaczoquitlán, on Federal Highways 180 and 190. The city had a ...

, Veracruz, a place with Sephardic roots, pambazo is made with Carne Polaca, or "Polish meat", lettuce, and spicy sauce.

Reception

The Daily Meal The Daily Meal is a food and drinks website. Launched in October 2010, it was the first site launched by Spanfeller Media Group, founded by former Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller. In 2016, The Daily Meal, along with Spanfeller Media Group, was ac ...

'' reviewed the pambazo with "it’s insanely delicious" in their article "12 Life-Changing Sandwiches You've Never Heard Of". Robert Sietsema described the sandwich as ''legendary'' in

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

References

External links

Recipe
{{Sandwiches Mexican breads Pork sandwiches Sausage sandwiches