I'm almost out of pan dulce, and it's a shame that El Pan de Pomuch is so far away.
This panadería in Pomuch, Campeche, produces such good breads that people drive all the way from Mérida in neighboring Yucatán to buy them.
The bakery is more than 100 years old and so has had plenty of time to perfect its breads. They're baked in a wood-fired oven--you can see the flame in the photo above--which is allowed in Mexico, but not where I live. And this makes a big difference.
Taste them hot and steaming, right out of the oven, and they're even more heavenly.
El Pan de Pomuch has a shop facing the main plaza and a bakery down another street. Ordinarily, you wouldn't be able to stumble around Mexican bakers as they work, especially when they're putting breads into the oven and pulling them out with long handled paddles that could jab you. Or that you could bump into and clumsily knock off the breads.
I was able to get inside, along with other journalists and photographers, thanks to chef Patricia Quintana (above), who included this stop on her Aromas y Sabores tour.
As a pan dulce fanatic, you would not have been able to keep me out, actually.
Sweating from the intense heat of the oven, I took photos of a pan de camelia--what a pretty name for the sweet bread known elsewhere as a concha (above).
And of a rolladito, which means little roll (above), an irresistibly light and tender, sugar-sprinkled coiled bun.
And of a curved platanito (above), a bread that pretends to be a banana.
The breads are formed and set to rise in an adjacent room. When the weather is cold--and we had some surprisingly cold weather during our days in the Yucatán peninsula--the bakers start to work very early to give the breads extra time to rise.
They're made with a doubly refined high protein flour for pan dulce that is produced in Campeche. One of the bakers wore an apron with its logo, Bola Roja. Flavorings include orange flower water, cinnamon, vanilla and ground aniseed.
Rafael Pérez Norelo of El Pan de Pomuch (above) speaks of his breads with the intensity of an artist. Proud of his work, he stood outside on the sidewalk to wave us off as our bus pulled away.
My one regret is that I left empty-handed, when there were still so many breads to try. However, delicate sweet buns just out of the oven don't take to being crowded in a bag jammed into an overhead rack.
On the other hand, I could have devoured them all on the way to the next stop. It would have been a happy ending.
El Pan de Pomuch, Calle 12, Colonia Centro, Pomuch, Campeche, Mexico. A branch has opened recently in the town of Calkiní in northern Campeche.
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