Pasuquin’s soft and delicious biscocho

I was in the NORTH. Up at the coasts of Cagayan and the Ilocos Norte provinces when I was again invited to be part of Lakbay Norte’s 2011 edition, Leg 2, visiting several new and interesting spots as well as reacquainted with some old sites.

Biscochoin Spanish means biscuits and in the Philippines, it’s typically day old bread that is toasted, buttered or daubed with margarine and then sugared. It is eaten as a snack paired with either hot coffee or milo and is available in many bakeries or groceries around.

In the town of Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, the biscocho comes in three forms: the traditional hard biscuit made from the outer part of the bread, a soft version of the former and the inner core which is called bugas, soft and tasty. Of the three, the soft ones are quite popular that the Pasuquin Bakery has become a sort of landmark in this province with several visitors and travelers stopping to buy their products.

The soft biscocho is not sweet, compared to the traditional but what it lacks in sweetness is compensated by the anise flavor and aroma and, especially if its freshly baked, its just one piece of bread goodness! Locals usually eat it alone but some do make sandwiches out of it: butter, sardines, jam, scrambled eggs…

The bakery goes back to post World War II and is currently managed by Manang Pansing. Pasuquin Bakery offers several bread types too and isn’t hard to miss.