Portuguese rolls

[Donna Hinson]

Over the years, we've tried various recipes for Portuguese rolls we
found online.  Some came close but none were like the ones I had growing
up in MA.  Does anyone have a recipe for them?  None I ever had in
Taunton had the ends twisted either, although it may depends on where
one lived.  All the bakeries in Taunton made them the same way.  I live
in Texas so definitely no Portuguese bakeries here.
Donna

[Magda Ayala]

(I was born in Terceira, but grew up in New Bedford and now live in Southern California. No Portuguese bakeries near me now either, so I have to bake my own)

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> On Jul 20, 2026, at 7:20 PM, Donna Hinson <dhins...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Over the years, we've tried various recipes for Portuguese rolls we found online. Some came close but none were like the ones I had growing up in MA. Does anyone have a recipe for them? None I ever had in Taunton had the ends twisted either, although it may depends on where one lived. All the bakeries in Taunton made them the same way. I live in Texas so definitely no Portuguese bakeries here.
> Donna
>
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[Richard Francis Pimentel]

Donna,  this is a recipe for some rolls that was given to my family back in the 1950's. 

Rick

Portuguese Bread – from Virginia Souto, Attleboro, MA

Ingredients: 5 Lbs. Flour

2 Hands of Sugar (a hand is about 1/4 cup) that means about a ½ cup

1 Hand of Salt about a ¼ cup

(I usually use less salt and more sugar just so long as you have 3/4 Cup of combined sugar and salt)

3 Cakes of Yeast (three packs of dry yeast or equivalent)

6 Cups of Water ( If not sticky enough add more water)

One stick, (1/4 lb.) of butter.

In a large pot or bowl, dissolve the three cakes of yeast in warm water and add the sugar and salt stir until dissolved. Gradually add the flour until the entire five pounds is kneaded in well. Cover and set in a warm place to rise. Mixture should double in size. When the dough is risen punch down and kneed again, then shape loves or rolls. There should be more than enough for three loves or three dozen rolls. Cover and let rise again. When it is fully raised, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter in sauce pan and brush on the bread or rolls just before placing in oven. After placing in oven as soon as the temperature returns to 400 degrees, reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes for rolls and 25 for loaves of bread. Remove from oven and let cool on cake racks. Instead of butter on top you can use a mixture of water and sugar or milk.

The dough can be deep fried and covered with powered sugar as a treat. The bread toasts well and of course fresh baked rolls with butter and a glass of red wine is great. Left over rolls (if there are any) can be micro waved to bring back that fresh baked texture.

I have also taken the dough before the final rising and rolled it or flattened it and spread cinnamon and sugar on the dough coated with butter to make a cinnamon roll.

[Cheri Mello]

Donna,

Are you talking about sweet bread rolls (massa sovada) or maybe "pop sick" - phonetic spelling.

Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada

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[Liz Migliori]

Wonderful

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On Jul 21, 2026, at 1:51 PM, Richard Francis Pimentel <ah.da....@gmail.com> wrote:



[Donna Hinson]

No, not sweet bread, papa seco's (Portuguese spelling?).  One of our attempts attached.

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[Richard Francis Pimentel]

Your roll looks a lot like the ones I bake. I should have added a roll to this picture attached.

Rick

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[Fábio Márquez]

Isso muito se parece com um prato chamado Mocotó! Com linguiça calabresa, batata, cenoura, caldo, e me parece couve. Se colocar tutano do boi, vira mocotó.

Fabio Marques

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[Richard Francis Pimentel]

I used Chorico in it but you could use either. If I use beans I use red kidney beans.

Rick

On 7/21/2026 8:24 PM, Donna Hinson wrote:

Your soup looks delicious!  My grandmother never used carrots. She used potatoes, kale and some shredded cabbage if she had it as well as white navy beans....and linguica or chorico (sp.?).  My husband, from NC, loves black eye peas plus the tradition in Texas is you have to eat black eye peas on New Year's Day for good luck!!  (It doesn't work!)  So having extras in the freezer (we make a big pot of dried peas), I use them in the soup...tastes the same as my grandmother's to me.  Sometimes my grandmother used red kidney beans.  I guess whatever she had in the house!  If I don't have kale, I use some chopped spinach but not the finely cut spinach.  The shredded (not too fine) cabbage adds a little contrast to the dark green.  I've heard some say their grandmothers added chopped tomatoes.  I've never tried that.

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[Richard Francis Pimentel]

I use Chicken broth. For the greens I used Kale but other greens such as Turnip or collard greens  will work.

Rick

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[Magda Ayala]

I sent my recipe last night but there’s are my Portuguese papos secos…

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On Jul 21, 2026, at 3:36 PM, Richard Francis Pimentel <ah.da....@gmail.com> wrote:



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<2012-08-31_Kale_Soup.JPG>

[Donna Hinson]

Your soup looks delicious!  My grandmother never used carrots. She used potatoes, kale and some shredded cabbage if she had it as well as white navy beans....and linguica or chorico (sp.?).  My husband, from NC, loves black eye peas plus the tradition in Texas is you have to eat black eye peas on New Year's Day for good luck!!  (It doesn't work!)  So having extras in the freezer (we make a big pot of dried peas), I use them in the soup...tastes the same as my grandmother's to me.  Sometimes my grandmother used red kidney beans.  I guess whatever she had in the house!  If I don't have kale, I use some chopped spinach but not the finely cut spinach.  The shredded (not too fine) cabbage adds a little contrast to the dark green.  I've heard some say their grandmothers added chopped tomatoes.  I've never tried that.

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[Donna Hinson]

It's the taste that counts!!  That recipe wasn't too bad but I'm not sure which one it was....we had a collection of recipes we were trying.  I tossed out the worst of them.  I should have put them in a notebook with notes so we would not end up googling recipes and repeating the mistakes!  

On 7/21/2026 5:36 PM, Richard Francis Pimentel wrote:

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[Donna Hinson]

Sometimes my grandmother did use some sort of beef in her soup.  I was a teenager when my mother died and shortly after, my father moved to Texas to be nearer his family.  So I didn't learn to make all the Portuguese dishes my grandmother made.  

On another point, regarding Portuguese rolls, frying the dough and dusting with powdered sugar sounds like French biegnets popular famous in New Orleans at Cafe du Monde.

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[Carlos Melo]

Now I know what you mean by Portuguese rolls! We call them Papos Secos.

Papo Seco is the term used in the Azores islands (at least in S. Miguel) and in Central Portugal, but people call it molete ou pãozinho in Porto, carcaça in Lisbon, and bijou, viana and vianinha in other parts of the country. 

[MaryAnn Santos]

There is a place in Fall River, MA called Portugalia. I buy Portuguese coffee and chouriço there because I cannot find it in NYC. They don't have Papos Secos, but they do have Pão D'avó. 

https://portugaliamarketplace.com/collections/pastries

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MaryAnn Santos

[Alan Francis]

Speaking of Fall River, Massachusetts... my favorite bakery is Barcelo's https://barcelosbakeryma.com

If visiting on the weekend, be prepared to wait in line (or better yet, order ahead).

Alan Francis

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[jeff knight]

Donna,

My grandmother in Seekonk would make that soup with that bread all the time. As a kid I really didn't like the "green soup", but I surely wish I had some now and I really miss Phoebe!

I'm keeping that pic!

jeff

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[jeff knight]

Fall River... wow, haven't been there in years. I used to go there to see my uncle. My cousins said it was the longest bridge in the world... haha... right to portugal!

jeff

On Wed, Jul 22, 2026 at 6:49 AM 'MaryAnn Santos' via Azores Genealogy <azo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

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[Donna Hinson]

I've bought linguica from Gaspar's in the past and put it in the freezer till I need it--

https://www.gasparssausage.com/

I don't order it during summer because I don't want to chance it during our hot summers...yesterday was 101 degrees...above the normal 95.  

If I don't have any, I sometimes use a smoked sausage from my local grocery store.  There are some that are spicy.  Never use the Hispanic chorico...it is NOT the same thing.  It's uncooked and won't work.  My niece's husband is Hispanic and cooked some for our breakfast when visiting one day so I knew it would never work.

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