Ham bread. Venezuelan recipe

How to prepare ham bread . This is a recipe for stuffed bread that Venezuelans come to prepare throughout the year in family celebrations, but its main role is acquired on Christmas dates.

It is a dish that cannot be missed on the table, accompanied by other essential typical dishes, such as the Hallacas and the Cream Punch .

In many bakeries and stores in the country you can buy the ham bread (a situation similar to the Rosca de Reyes in Spain), but none comparable to the one that can be done at home, which although it takes time, is worth the work done in the kitchen.

To know its origin, we refer to the Venezuelan journalist and writer Miro Popic, who attributes the creation of the ham bread to the “Ramella” bakery in Caracas (capital of Venezuela) in December 1905.

At first it was called ” bread with ham “, since it was only filled with cooked ham. Years later it became very popular, and it spread to the competition, where raisins and olives began to be added. This dish has followed the reverse path to the vast majority: first it was industrial and then it became home-made.

Today there are many variations and it is possible to find Ham bread with many different ingredients: turkey ham, figs, almonds, walnuts, cream cheese, etc. I recommend this recipe for international cuisine.

It takes time to prepare it but it has conquered me from the first time. It is a fluffy and very delicious bread, which I have even eaten for breakfast with the leftover pieces of food.

Preparation of the ham bread dough

1. The first step for any bread is to make the dough. In a small bowl we pour 4 tablespoons of warm water and dissolve in it the block of fresh yeast.
2. We undo either with the hands or with the help of a teaspoon. Let stand 10 minutes.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over the fire, until it is completely liquid. We take a large bowl, where we will carry out the entire kneading process. We sift the flour into it, and to this we add the butter, the egg and the salt. Mix with your hands or with a spatula.
4. We combine the yeast with the milk, and add the liquid little by little over the flour, and we work the dough. Mixing with hands or with a utensil. It will turn out to be a homogeneous, flexible and somewhat sticky mass.
5. We cover the counter with a little flour and pour the dough from the bowl onto it. With the hands also floured, we continue kneading about 5 minutes. We will obtain a homogeneous and very soft dough. If necessary, we will add a little more flour, but only the one that “asks” us for the kneading process.
6. In another clean bowl with some flour in the bottom, place the dough and cover with a clean cloth.
7. We reserve in a warm place for an hour, so that it rests and increases approximately 2 times its size.
8. While the dough rises, we put the raisins to soak in a glass with water. This way they soften and then they will be more comfortable to eat.
9. After time, lightly flour the counter again.
10. We place the leavened dough and we spread it with a rolling pin. We want to achieve a rectangle with it. For the measurements, be careful not to exceed the size of your oven tray.
11. In my case the mass is 40 cm. long by 28 wide. We cut with a knife if necessary, and with the excess dough you can also decorate the bread on top.

Preparation of ham bread

In the list of ingredients we recommend the most common, but in Venezuela, each house adapts to the tastes of the staff.

Imagination to the power to make the richest ham bread, you can add thin slices of bacon (bacon), replace the cooked ham with Serrano / Iberian ham. Another option is to add sliced ​​cheese next to the cooked ham, preparing a simple ham and cheese bread.

1. Melt the 20 gr. butter and brush the inside of the dough.
2. We are placing the slices of cooked ham, and later we add the raisins (drained) at random, spread over the entire surface.
3. I recommend putting the olives in a row, so we guarantee that they go in all the cuts of bread.
4. Carefully roll the dough, little by little, taking care that the filling does not escape when rolling.
5. We form a cylinder with several turns. We close the ends and the bottom well, so that later the bread does not open during baking.
6. We reserve on a baking paper, covered with a cloth, and let the bread rest for 1 hour.
7. You will see that it rises again almost twice in size. This time is the minimum recommendation, but it could perfectly be longer.

Baking and final presentation of ham bread

1. Once the resting time is over, we put the oven to preheat for 10 minutes at 200º C.
2. We take the opportunity to beat an egg and brush the outside of the bread evenly. If this is the case, we also decorate the bread with the leftover remains of the dough.
3. We prick the dough with a fork so that it “breathes” in the oven and does not rise excessively.
4. I have made some light cuts with the knife, as decoration and to mark the cuts to be made when tasting it.
5. We lower the temperature to 180º C and bake 20-25 minutes, until we check that the bread is golden on the outside.
6. This time depends on the “power” and / or efficiency of your oven.
7. From 20 minutes it should be done, and think that later, outside the oven, it will continue to cook inside with the residual heat.
8. Remove from the oven and let it warm to room temperature, before consuming it.
9. Personally I like it colder than temperate, but this is for tastes. Even after a few hours or the next day, it is still perfect in texture and very rich.
10. To serve it, we cut carefully so that the bread does not break, into slices of about 2-3 cm. thick. Resulting in a bread with a harder crust and a sweet fluffy crumb. With a uniform filling with ham, raisins and olives.

A recipe that comes to us from Latin America but that perfectly adapts to our tastes. We can include it in the Christmas menus without problem.

I tell you that I have even done it at another time of the year as a first course at a meal with family or friends. Be sure to enjoy all the recipes that we offer you in the special Christmas recipes .