A marraqueta, also known as pan francés ('French bread' in Spanish) and other names, is a

bread roll Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made foo ...

made with

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ''bread ...

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

, water and

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

. This type of roll has a crunchy texture, and is very popular in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

(

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

but can also be found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

), and also

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. The oldest references of the name situate its origin in Bolivia.

Names

Regional varieties

Bolivia

In Bolivia, the bread is called ''pan de batalla'' (battle bread). The recipe arrived in

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

in 1908 in the hands of the Greek immigrant Michel Jorge Callispieris, from

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

island. Bread in both locations share indeed the same characteristics: crunchiness and slightly salty flavor. The Bolivian marraqueta is a 60-75 g bread, sold per unit and consumed mostly in the metropolitan area of

and

El Alto El Alto (Spanish for "The Heights") is the second-largest city in Bolivia, located adjacent to La Paz in Pedro Domingo Murillo Province on the Altiplano highlands. El Alto is today one of Bolivia's fastest-growing urban centers, with an estim ...

. It is prepared in common ovens between midnight and dawn to be sold fresh and crunchy by vendors in the morning. The ''marraqueta'' of

was declared cultural patrimony in 2006.

Brazil

In Brazil, this bread is called by many different names depending on the region, such as pão francês (French bread), pão cacetinho, cacetinho, pão de sal (salt bread), pão de trigo (wheat bread), pão de água (water bread), aguado, careca, jacó. It is used to make ''

pão na chapa Pão na chapa is a Brazilian breakfast food, popular in the São Paulo state cuisine. It's a piece of French Bread cut in half and spread in butter, then pressed in the griddle or cooked in a pan. It is also common to spread the bread with requei ...

''. It is extremely popular in Brazil. It is baked and sold in tens of thousands of "padarias" (deli/bakeries) located everywhere from major metropolises to rural villages.

Chile

In Chile, marraqueta is also called pan batido (whipped bread) or pan francés (French bread) depending on the region. The Chilean marraqueta is, strictly speaking, a se-tenant pair of small

rolls Roll or Rolls may refer to: Movement about the longitudinal axis * Roll angle (or roll rotation), one of the 3 angular degrees of freedom of any stiff body (for example a vehicle), describing motion about the longitudinal axis ** Roll (aviation), ...

, baked with ''another'' pair attached, comprising four rolls in total; some confusion can be caused when ordering one marraqueta, as this may be interpreted as either two or four rolls. Chilean marraqueta bread can be divided into four pieces with the hands. It does not contain fat and the proofing process takes longer than other breads. The unusual form of the four buns allows it to be divided very easily. Many historians agree that the ''marraqueta'' originated in

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when major Chilean ports such as

and

Talcahuano Talcahuano () (From Mapudungun ''Tralkawenu'', "Thundering Sky") is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile. Geo ...

received thousands of European immigrants. The story goes the bread was invented by two French baker brothers in Valparaíso whose last name was ''Teran-Marraquett'', and the bread went on to become very popular among Chileans in a very short time. This story would explain both the ''marraqueta'' and ''pan francés'' names. In Valparaíso itself, somewhat confusingly, marraqueta means the four small rolls while half of this is called ''pan batido'', the use of which is a

shibboleth A shibboleth (; hbo, , šībbōleṯ) is any custom or tradition, usually a choice of phrasing or even a single word, that distinguishes one group of people from another. Shibboleths have been used throughout history in many societies as passwor ...

of the Port of Valparaíso (but is ignored by national supermarket chains). There is no clear agreement on what is considered one unit of marraqueta and while some bakers claim is the four pieces of bread, some others claim that a unit is only half (so they say that the four pieces are two marraquetas). An alternative theory of the bread's origin was proposed by French naturalist and botanist

Claude Gay Claude Gay, often named Claudio Gay in Spanish texts, (March 18, 1800 – November 29, 1873), was a French botanist, naturalist and illustrator. This explorer carried out some of the first investigations about Chilean flora, fauna, geology and geo ...

, who suggested that ''marraqueta'' was first eaten in Chile in the 18th century. Currently marraqueta is the most widely consumed bread in Chile and is used as toast, in sandwiches and as a binder for certain recipes such as ''pastel de carne'' (

meatloaf Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray, or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. It ...

). It is widely considered the quintessential Chilean

staple food A staple food, food staple, or simply a staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for a given person or group of people, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and ...

Hong Kong and Macau

Piggy bun is a type of

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests ma ...

. It is a version of the Portuguese roll brought by colonizers. It is the common bread in

. It is found in

bakeries A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who w ...

and

Cha chaan teng ''Cha chaan teng'' (; "tea restaurant"), often called a Hong Kong-style cafe or diner in English, is a type of restaurant that originated in Hong Kong. Cha chaan teng are commonly found in Hong Kong, Macau, and parts of Guangdong. Due to the w ...

. In

, it is often served cut in two with

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...

and

condensed milk Condensed milk is cow's milk from which water has been removed (roughly 60% of it). It is most often found with sugar added, in the form of ''sweetened condensed milk'' (SCM), to the extent that the terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condens ...

. In

, it is also used to make

Pork chop bun A pork chop bun is one of the most popular and famous snacks in Macau, and has been described as a Macau specialty. Pork chop bun is derived from a Portuguese pork sandwich named . The bun ( piggy bun) is extremely crisp outside and very soft i ...

Uruguay

The Marseille bread called ''pan marsellés'' in Uruguay is different from the Brazilian ''pão francês''. The Brazilian type is less dense and lighter and crispier, meanwhile the Uruguayan version is made with a denser bread dough, resulting in a harder bread (similar to Italian bread).

Gallery

Llonguet.jpg, Llonguet (Mallorcan-style bread) Marraqueta bread.jpg, Marraqueta chilena (Chilean-style marraqueta) Marraqueta paceña.jpg, Marraqueta paceña (

-style marraqueta) Pan Marraqueta Tacna 28072010.jpg, Marraqueta tacneña (

Tacna Tacna was known for its mining industry; it had significant deposits of sodium nitrate and other resources. Its economic prosperity attracted a wave of immigrants from Italy. Today, their Italian Peruvian descendants live in the city and many of t ...

-style marraqueta) Pan francés Perú.jpg, Pan francés peruano (Peruvian-style French bread) Pao frances.jpg, Pão francês (Brazilian-style French bread) HK Food Sheung Wan bakery 豬仔飽 Bread.JPG, Zyu zai baau (Hong Kong-style piggy bun) Pão na chapa.jpg,

Pão na chapa Pão na chapa is a Brazilian breakfast food, popular in the São Paulo state cuisine. It's a piece of French Bread cut in half and spread in butter, then pressed in the griddle or cooked in a pan. It is also common to spread the bread with requei ...

PorkChopBun.jpg,

References

{{Hong Kong bread Argentine cuisine Bolivian cuisine Brazilian cuisine Chilean breads Hong Kong breads Macanese cuisine Paraguayan cuisine Peruvian cuisine Portuguese cuisine Spanish cuisine Uruguayan cuisine Wheat breads Yeast breads