worldly wednesdays: pan dushi aruba

The recipe that kept popping up when researching Aruba’s food and Christmas customs was for sweet bread called pan dushi (sweet rolls). It isn’t surprising that Arubans make sweet bread that is a cousin to the sweet bread that we found is popular in Argentina, pan dulce and is also a holiday staple in Venezuela. Aruba is just a short distance north of the Venezuelan Peninsula, Paraguana. A flat, river-less island, Aruba lies in the Caribbean Sea and enjoys a pleasant climate that averages 81 degrees due to trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean. Like many Caribbean Islands, Aruba was originally populated by Arawak Indians called Caiquetios who migrated north from the Orinoco Basin in South America. In 1499 the Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda claimed Aruba in the name of Queen Isabella. Aruba received its name from one of two sources. First, it is said that Alonso de Ojeda... Read the Rest →