Philippine cuisine Filipino cuisine is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct Ethnic groups in the Philippines, ethnolinguistic groups found throughout the Philippines, Philippine archipelago. A majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that comp ...

, ''roscas'' or ''biscochos de roscas'' refer to a type of pastry cookies from the province of

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

, mainly from the towns of Barugo and Carigara, made from lard, anise, flour, sugar, butter and eggs. These roscas are initially shaped as crescents or penannular rings (hence the name—''roscas'' is

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for "rings"). Each of the roscas is then cut in half before baking, resulting in two separate elbow-shaped cookies. While some claim that these

pasalubong ''Pasalubong'' (Tagalog language, Tagalog, " omethingfor when you welcome me") is the Filipino people, Filipino tradition of travellers bringing gifts from their destination to people back home. ''Pasalubong'' can be any gift or souvenir br ...

pastry cookies trace their history to the

Spanish era The Spanish era (), sometimes called the era of Caesar, was a calendar era (year numbering system) commonly used in the states of the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th century until the 15th, when it was phased out in favour of the ''Anno Domini'' (A ...

, others have indicated that roscas-making in Leyte was started in the town of Barugo by a returning migrant only in the late 1960s; the migrant's success was purportedly replicated in the nearby town of Carigara and the far town of

Calbayog Calbayog, officially the City of Calbayog (; ), is a component city in the province of Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 186,960 people. It lies along the coastal region of the province stretching about ...

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

province. What original recipe the roscas derive from remains unspecified in that account, however.

References

Philippine pastries Bread dishes Culture of Leyte (province) Culture of Samar (province) Philippine breads Visayan cuisine {{Philippines-cuisine-stub Filipino cuisine

See also

References