Panaderia de Molo

The 130-year old Panaderia de Molo is the oldest bakery in Iloilo. Built beside the Molo cathedral in the old Parian district of Iloilo, the bakery was started by Luisa Jason Sanson when nuns from a nearby convent donated surplus egg yolks to her and her sisters. In the 1800s, egg whites were used as a binding agent in building the walls of the cathedral and other churches. To this day, most of the Panaderia classics use egg yolks, including the galletas, hojaldres, barquillos, bañadas, broas, kinamuncil, and rosquetes. Chicken and pork dumplings for the classic Ilonggo soup, pancit Molo, are also produced and retailed there. The bakery still uses the original concrete, custom-built, wood-fired ovens, according to Georgina Gaona and Heather Maloto, two of Luisa’s grandchildren. The Panaderia products, sold in the distinctive large round tins with the green and white label, have always been the official Iloilo pasalubong [gift from one’s travel] of several generations of Filipinos for friends and family.