I first tried this sweet-tasting bread with grated cheese when I was in grade school in Betis. I remember that my older cousins would bring these back from their trip to San Fernando and just put them on the table in Bale Matwa so that everyone could pick up their own. In those days, they were so popular that they even beat out Spanish bread and Pandecoco, a bread filled with sweetened coconut strips. Like Spanish bread, we all thought they were based on imported breads and changed to fit the needs of the local market. But where did this soft, fluffy bread really come from?
A search on the internet for “cheese bread” would bring up a lot of information, with most of the results being about how to cook and bake the popular bread. The common open-source information about cheese bread as just a loaf of bread topped with cheese may give us the lead. Lolita Munoz’s book Panaderia Artesanal: Panes, Galletitas, Facturas, and Budines (2010) says that cheese bread is a bread roll made of cornstarch, yeast, sugar, salt, eggs, and grated cheese. According to this information, this bread with cheese delicacy, called pan de queso, comes from the Republic of Colombia.
However, one particular family—the Santiago family—may have brought a Filipino version of cheese bread to the Philippines. The Santiago family is from Cacutud, Arayat, and it was their innovative recipe that made cheese bread a part of the intangible cultural heritage of the Kapampangans.
“We’ve always been in the bakery business.” Our first one was opened in the 1940s thanks to our apu, Julia Fuertez Santiago,” Leila Santiago said. “She named it Julia’s Bakery after herself. At that time, it was one of the first bakeries in Arayat and probably even all of Pampanga.” “This is where the LBS bakeshop history started,” she stated.
At the onset of the partnership, what was offered in the bakery were conventional types of bread. But Leila said that her mother loves innovation, having had several experiences in the bakery business.
LBS Bakeshop and Kitchenette is the current name of this bakery, owned by the Santiago family. It is currently located at the site of the old Apung Gari Bakery and Kiosk on Jose Abad Santos Street in Santo Rosario, which, in the 1950s, was also a well-known café. LBS is named after her mother, Leonila Bondoc Santiago. It sells many tasty treats, like pansit luglug and palabok, but the most famous product is the Cheesebread.
“The idea of all of this started when, in the late 1930s, my grandmother would sell things at Divisoria Market in Manila, such as sacks of rice. Not all of her customers had cash on hand, though. Sometimes they would trade the goods for tons of flour instead. This is where she took advantage of the chance,” Leila said.
Leila says that the huge amount of flour really gave the bakery enough fixings to meet the demand for pandesal from people in Arayat. “My mom, Leonila, and my dad eventually took over the business and helped improve it by adding other kinds of bread in Arayat, even extending to neighboring towns for two decades,” she mentioned.
In 1985, Leony’s best friend, Angie Lim, offered her space for a bread shop in the same building where the current LBS is located. Combining their names to create the brand for the business—letters L for Leony and A for Angie—LA Bakeshop was formed and became operational from then on.
At the onset of the partnership, what was offered in the bakery were conventional types of bread. But Leila said that her mother loves innovation, having had several experiences in the bakery business.
Leonila and Angie’s decades-long collaboration and business dealings produced a product that was acclaimed as one of the greatest in the City of San Fernando. The product gained so much fame that Cheesebread is now regarded as a staple of Kapampangan cuisine. The inexpensive, delicious bread snack became popular outside of the city. The Cheesebread gained so much popularity so fast that people traveled from all across the nation and even abroad to get it. Today, Cheesebreads are enjoyed by both locals and visitors, further solidifying its reputation as a treasured culinary delicacy.
“This is a treasure for the family. And our history. You can call me “cheesy, but we will give the Kapampangans the best they deserve as long as they like our cheese pandesal,”
– Leila Santiago
However, because their contract had expired, Leony and Angie discontinued their business relationship in 2008. Angie Lim retained the name LA Bakeshop but the Santiago family had to redefine the business from scratch. Despite having to start from scratch, the Santiago family managed to maintain the original recipe of their famous Cheesebread, which played a crucial role in preserving its popularity. With their dedication and commitment, they were able to rebuild the business and continue satisfying the cravings of both locals and tourists alike.
“What the people can taste at the current store called LBS Bakeshop is the same delicious Cheesebread of their collective memories,” Leila explained.
Leila says that today, thousands of LBS Bakeshop and Kitchenette Cheesebreads are sold every day, and the 4th generation of Santiagos run branches from San Fernando to Angeles. “This is a treasure for the family. And our history. You can call me melodramatic, but we will give the Kapampangans the best they deserve as long as they like our cheese pandesal,” Leila said. – Text and photo by Ruston Banal