Panada

panada is an English loan word from Romance languages (panade, French; panada, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese), first used in the 16th century. The dictionaries say it derived specifically from the Spanish—witness perhaps that at that period we British deferred to Spanish culinary taste (see olio for example) more than we have done latterly. Ultimately, the root of course is the Latin panis (bread).

One meaning is a sort of bread gruel or soup, typically made by boiling some bread in water and then adding flavouring. With the addition of lemon, wine, and sugar, it was considered in the 17th century to be highly nourishing for invalids. Hannah glasse (1747) thought so too but disallowed the wine in her version. Such a plain soup was an important fast-day dish for Catholic countries. The second meaning of the term is a paste made with breadcrumbs or any of various flours and water, milk, or stock, to be used for thickening sauces or for binding mixtures, perhaps for quenelles, gnocchi, the panada of Catalonia, or meatballs.