Mexican breads

A baño maría, meaning a water bath for a custard like budín or bread pudding comes from the French word bain marie.

[1] The bread making sector is one of the most stable in Mexico, as it is a basic necessity, but it often struggles with efforts to control prices and the rising cost of production.

[5] The flour used is still made from the same category of wheat used since the colonial period, although cross experimentation with other varieties have modified the stalks to be more resistant to breaking.

Baking bread is considered a trade, learned through apprenticeship although child labor laws have limited how this system can be put into effect.

It is common to see a niche dedicated to a saint, especially the Virgin of Guadalupe and San Judas Tadeo in Mexico City near the counter or the cash register, along with a piece of currency from the first sale of the business, candles and flowers.

Centuries of experimentation and influence from various European baking traditions has led to the current modern selection found in most Mexican bakeries.

Some have whimsical, even mischievous names due to the bawdy reputation of bakers in the past as well as experimentation as one of the ways to keep entertained during the work shift.

Some relate to common women's names such as Carmela and Margarita, and other refer to other foods such as taco, elote (corn) and zapote (a fruit).

[2] Many bread types are usually distinguished by shape—such as those that are roundish from the natural rising of the dough and bear names such as volcanes (volcanos) and almejas (clams).

Other are made from strips of dough, most often used to create shapes similar to man-made objects—such as reja (grill or railing), estribo (stirrup), puro (cigar), libro (book), ladrillo (brick), and lazo (rope).

[2][9] There are a number of events and festivals that are traditionally celebrated with specific kinds of breads and pastry, which include patron saints’ days.

[2] One traditional festival bread is pan de pulque, which as its name implies, is made with the fermented sap of the maguey plant and most popular in the center and south of Mexico.

It comes in various shapes and with various toppings and is generally sold by wandering vendors with their own bakery trucks that travel among the many town and religious fairs around Mexico.

This is a ring bread, of Roman origin, which used to be filled with cream but in Mexico is generally decorated with ate (quince cheese), raisins and nuts.

However, there are some distinct variations such as those made with puff pastry and those in shapes of sheep, hearts, hands, dead persons and highly decorated wheel formations.

[1] The first wheat crop was planted on land belonging to Hernán Cortés who later gifted it to Juan Garrido, a freed slave and one of the first bakers of the colonial period.

[4] While European bakeries at the time were family businesses, passed down for generations, the conquistadors wanted to avoid manual labor, so they taught the indigenous to make bread for them.

Hernán Cortés himself issued the first wheat milling licenses and, to control prices, ordered breads sold in the main squares of towns.

These members had to be of Spanish descent, and even though there was some selling of breads outside of guild bakeries, such as those made by indigenous women who learned as helpers at convents, they risked punishment for doing so.

[2] The lack of ventilation and unhygienic conditions left bakers susceptible to respiratory infections, tuberculosis, throat and nasal ulcers and more.

[3] Spanish owners exploited the lowest classes of colonial society, often entrapping workers with debt peonage and using forced labor by convicts, who could receive sentences of years of kneading dough.

[7] Colonial era monasteries and convents were also an early source of innovation, as they baked their own breads both for their own consumption and as a means of giving charity to the poor.

In the 17th century, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz did a transcription of her convent's cookbook, with half the recipes dedicated to breads.

By the end of the 18th century, most bakeries had people dedicated to sweet breads and more varieties are recorded, especially in cafés, made popular by Italian immigrants in Mexico City.

[3] The volatile political situation and the distaste that many of the established creole families had for the baking business meant that bakeries changed hands frequently.

[3] The Mexican Revolution allowed for major change in the baking industry, first by breaking down the old systems of food supply, especially in Mexico City, which became isolated by the civil war.

[2][3] The bakers joined the larger labor movement, first with the Casa de Obrero Mundial organization in 1915, but this industry had a harder time gaining concessions despite the Venustiano Carranza government's union sympathies because of the need to feed the population with inexpensive bread.

In the 1950s, baker Antonio Ordóñez Ríos decided to do away with the glass in the cases and allow customers to choose their own breads and place them on a tray to be counted and charged by staff.

[9] Bakeries still provide employment for many Mexicans, the basic white breads such as bolillos and teleras remain as staples, accounting for about 85% of all sales.

[2] As a result of international acquisitions, Mexico City-headquartered Grupo Bimbo has become the largest producer of baked products in the world.