Papo Secos Portuguese Rolls
These papo secos are light and airy Portuguese rolls that are the perfect vehicle for the classic bifanas–marinated pork slices–or your favorite sandwich fillings or simply a smear of butter. I grew up eating papo secos. (Every Portuguese kid within 1,000 miles of me grew up eating papo secos.) I called them “butt buns” because, to my 10-year-old eyes, they looked like the plump little ass cheeks of a putto, or newborn. I made a few changes from tradition in this recipe, which I think makes for a better texture. Instead of kneading the hell out of the dough, I borrowed the technique of folding the dough over itself rather than punching it down, and this results in a lighter interior and bigger butts, er, buns. Yet these still have the crusty exterior anyone whose Portuguese knows to expect. They’re not hard to make. Honest. The only part that takes a bit of time to get the hang of is the shaping. It took me several tries ...