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Pan de bono is a traditional bread consisting of cassava starch, cornmeal or corn flour, queso fresco, eggs, and sugar. The bread is shaped into bagels or balls that are slightly larger than golf balls. Pan de bono is similar to other South American cheese breads like pan de queso, difference being added conr flour or cornmeal, and a hint of sweeteness due to the addition of sugar.
It is usually served warm with a cup of hot chocolate on the side. Some claim that the name pan de bono was created after an Italian baker in Cali who used to yell pane del buono (good bread), while others say that it is named after a place called Hacienda El Bono, where it was first made.
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Literally translated to cheese bread, pão de queijo has its origins in the culinary inventions of African slaves, when they started to use the residue of the cassava plant. A fine white powder, or starch, was rolled into balls and baked.
At the time, no cheese was added, so it was just baked starch, but at the end of the 19th century, when slavery ended, other foods started to become available to the Afro-Brazilians for the first time. In the state of Minas Gerais, the dairy center of Brazil, cheese and milk started to be added to the starchy balls, and pão de queijo was created.
MOST ICONIC Pão de queijo
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Marraqueta (also known as pan batido and pan francés) is the most popular bread in Chile and Bolivia, a staple food that is often consumed three times a day. It is made with flour, water, salt, and yeast. Two balls of dough are typically pressed together, then nearly split down the middle before the bread is baked in the oven, usually with a pan of water which gives marraqueta its characteristical crust.
The crust is so beloved that some people even pull out the crumb (called miga) before consumption. It is believed that marraqueta dates back to the late 19th and early 20th century, when a large number of Europeans immigrated to Chile and Bolivia.
MOST ICONIC Marraqueta
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Almojábana is a traditional and Puerto Rican bread (although it is also popular in other countries of Latin America) that is very similar to pandebono. Pandebono is usually made with yuca flour and costeño cheese, while almojábanas are made with cuajada white cheese and cornmeal flour.
Almojábanas are baked until they develop a spongy texture and a golden brown color of the exterior. This small, round bread is traditionally served warm.
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Pan de queso is a cheese bread from Colombia, namely the Paisa region where it is extremely popular. The main ingredients are tapioca flour and grated cheese, but it is the fermented cassava starch that gives these rolls their lightness and volume.
They are eaten for breakfast or as a parva—a quick breakfast snack, either plain or filled with cream cheese or jelly.
A simple bun called chipa is the most common food staple in Paraguay. The famous bread is made with cassava flour, lard, and anise. It originates from the Native American people Guarani, indigenous to the Amazon area of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.
The origin of chipa dates back to the time when wheat was not present in South America, and cassava was the most commonly used starch in the area. In colonial times, the Jesuit missionaries introduced milk, eggs, and cheese to the indigenous people, which finalized the chipa recipe.
VARIATIONS OF Chipa
Arepa is a highly versatile cornbread made from ground corn dough or precooked corn flour. It is commonly consumed in Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. In Venezuela, arepa is eaten at any time of the day, throughout the whole country, and across all socio-economic groups.
The golden disks with a crispy, browned crust are commonly stuffed with a variety of ingredients, and the combinations are seemingly infinite, from beans, cheese, and avocado to shredded beef and onions. For a Venezuelan breakfast, arepas are traditionally paired with a cup of strong coffee and hot dipping chocolate.
VARIATIONS OF Arepa
MOST ICONIC Arepa
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Pan de yuca is a traditional bread consisting of cassava flour, eggs, and cheese. It is usually shaped into small, round balls. The bread is popular throughout Colombia and Ecuador, although there are variations on pan de yuca throughout Latin America.
It makes for a delicious warm appetizer or an afternoon snack, preferably paired with a cup of hot chocolate, tea, or coffee.
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Cachapa, chorreada, arepa de choclo, güirila, toquera, tortilla de choclo, and tortilla changa, are all names that describe a Latin American corn dish that can be categorized as either a pancake, tortilla, or flatbread, depending on the country.
It can be made only of corn or have additional ingredients like sugar, water, milk, salt, butter, cheese, and oil. They are typically prepared by street vendors and are either fried or griddled (in Nicaragua, they’re cooked between two banana leaves!) and characterized by a sweet-savory flavor.
Mbeju is a traditional, starchy Paraguayan flatbread made with either manioc or farina flour. As a result, it is highly nutritious and looks like a pancake with a crumbly texture. Besides flour, mbeju consists of salt, water, oil, and, optionally, crumbled cheese.
This starchy treat is usually consumed for breakfast, although some consume it as a quick and easy dinner.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 28 South American Breads” list until February 13, 2025, 2,820 ratings were recorded, of which 1,476 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.