Mollete

Mollete

Type	Bread
Media: Mollete

A mollete (Spanish pronunciation: [moˈʎete]) refers to an open-faced sandwich in Mexican cuisine or to a type of bread in Spanish cuisine.

Spanish cuisine

Manteca colorá (English: red lard), is lard cooked with pork, paprika (which gives it its rich colour) and other spices and herbs. It is most popular in Andalucía where it is mostly spread on toasted molletes.

A mollete is a flatbread from the Andalusian region, in southern Spain. It is a soft round white bread, usually served lightly toasted with olive oil and raw garlic or spread with lard (usually in the forms of manteca colorá or zurrapa de lomo) in an Andalusian breakfast. The most famous are the ones from Antequera, Málaga.

Mexican cuisine

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Mexican molletes

A mollete, native to northern Mexico, is made with bolillos sliced lengthwise and partially hollowed, filled with refried beans, and topped with cheese and slices of jalapeño or serrano peppers. It is then grilled in an oven until the cheese melts. The refried beans are "frijol mantequilla" (literally, "butter beans") known outside of the region as "pinto beans".

The traditional cheeses used are queso ranchero, asadero, or queso menonita. The queso ranchero is most similar to Parmesan with less aging, the asadero is a creamy provolone, and the menonita most closely resembles Havarti.

Molletes in southern Mexico can be served with salsa or pico de gallo or topped with sliced ham, chorizo, bacon or mushrooms.

Molletes are considered a distant cousin of the Italian bruschetta dish.

There is also a "sweet type" mollete. It is made by putting butter over the bolillo and then sprinkling sugar or honey over it and broiling until crisp.

Molletes as a breakfast

Molletes can also be eaten as a simple and inexpensive breakfast.

See also

• Food portal
• List of Mexican dishes
• List of sandwiches