A British celebrity chef insulted Mexican bread. Mexico took it personally
MEXICO CITY — Don’t mess with my bolillos!
That was the universal message here after disparaging remarks about Mexican bread from a famous British chef who ridiculed the beloved bolillo: a small, oval-shaped white bread that is a culinary and cultural staple, a mainstay of tortas (sandwiches), pan con chocolate (chocolate bread) and other staples, a go-to comfort food with a spiritual cachet.
Mexicans “don’t really have a bread culture,” said chef Richard Hart, who runs a popular bakery in Mexico City, in a podcast that recently resurfaced online. He called Mexican wheat “not good…highly processed, full of additives,” adding, “They make sandwiches on these ugly white buns that are pretty cheap and industrially made.” »
This frontal assault on El Bolillo came as many Mexicans are preparing to stock up on soft breads for the holidays. Judging by the reaction, Hart might as well have been criticizing the national soccer team.
“The bolillo is a sacred food in Mexico, it is part of our daily lives,” said a stunned Carlos López, 32, who was standing in line at a stand waiting for his daily torta de tamal – a sandwich made with a cornmeal tamale stuffed into a bolillo.
“It’s breakfast for millions of Mexicans!” López talked about the bulging cholesterol bomb, usually dripping with hot sauce. “I think this English cook should close his shop and go home to his country.”
Defenders of the bolillo have climbed the ramparts of the Internet to defend their humble fare. Many posted under #ConElBolilloNo.
“The bolillo is everything: it’s a food, a remedy, it’s the homeland,” an X commentator was indignant.
A neighborhood bakery in Mexico City’s Colonia Cuauhtemoc neighborhood sells a wide variety of pan dulce.
(Lisette Poole/For Time)
The insult seemed to anger many because it touched on both a current issue — gentrification in Mexico City — and an old sore point: foreigners citing supposedly high European standards to judge Mexico, where Hart now makes his living.
Another poster expressed the hope that the European intellectual leader had learned his lesson with the bolillo and would not dare disdain other favorites like the concha, a ubiquitous shell-shaped sweet bread with a sweet filling.
“If you want to play with vanilla or chocolate concha, think twice,” the user warned.
London-born Hart, who honed his sourdough skills over seven years at San Francisco’s famed Tartine Bakery, apologized online last week after his comments, made months ago, went viral.
“Since arriving in Mexico, I have fallen in love with the people of this city,” Hart wrote. “However, my words did not reflect this respect. In this country, I am a guest and I forgot to act accordingly.”
A worker restocks the shelves with pan dulce and other types of bread at the Ideal bakery in Mexico City.
(Lisette Poole/For Time)
The culinary hubbub was unusual in Mexico, which has a world-renowned cuisine that includes dozens of varieties of breads and pastries, both savory and sweet. Many are elaborations of European originals, often bearing evocative names such as banderilla (banner), bigote (mustache), tortuga (turtle) and colchón (mattress).
Mexico is particularly known for its festive breads such as pan de muerto (for the Day of the Dead), often placed on the graves of loved ones; and Rosca de Reyes, a sweet round bread eaten on January 6, Three Kings Day (Epiphany), traditionally with a figure of the baby Jesus hidden inside.
“Mexico doesn’t replicate European bread because it doesn’t have to,” wrote Edgar Nuñez, a famous Mexican chef who studied in France, on X in response to the bolillos dustup. “There is a real baking tradition here, with its own history, its own identity, its own technique and a social connection that many cultures lack. »
Hart did not respond to messages left at his bakery, Green Rhino, located in the capital’s shabby-chic Roma Norte neighborhood.
Reports that the Green Rhino was vandalized were false, restaurant employees said. There were no signs of exterior damage Friday afternoon.
The Green Rhino, which opened in June, employs about 50 people, employees said. Business seemed slow Friday afternoon. Some potential customers lingered outside the premises, apparently wondering if they could enter.
Clockwise from top right: sweetbreads a la concha, sold at a food stand in Mexico City’s La Roma neighborhood, and various offerings from Bou bakery.
(Lisette Poole / For Time)
“I think it’s all just a misunderstanding,” said Sofía, 28, a regular customer who, like others interviewed, declined to give her full name for privacy reasons. “Yeah, I think I’ll go back. It’s a nice place.”
The bolillo brouhaha has quickly become part of the raging debate over gentrification in Mexico City.
Critics have blamed rising rents and the displacement of longtime residents and businesses on a wave of digital nomads and other expats from the United States, Canada, Europe and elsewhere. Every day we see foreign visitors, most of them young, strolling through gentrified neighborhoods looking at their cell phones, following directions to the latest trendy spots trending on Instagram and TikTok. Many trendy bakeries offer European-style bread and pastries.
In July, angry, mostly young Mexican protesters marched through the trendy Roma neighborhood and neighboring Condesa, denouncing foreign-driven gentrification. Some vandalized restaurants and cafes, breaking windows and overturning outdoor tables at various businesses, including at a popular Starbucks with a predominantly Mexican clientele.
A worker restocks the Ideal bakery with bread.
(Lisette Poole/For Time)
Despite complaints about gentrification, there is a clear advantage for foreign – and Mexican – customers attracted to pricey establishments such as the Green Rhino. The increased activity has helped spur an economic return to Rome and Condesa, a hotbed of gentrification. Both districts suffered significant damage in the 2017 earthquake and saw business collapse again during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the bolillo attack clearly struck a chord in a capital otherwise bustling with a festive atmosphere. Christmas decorations adorn most storefront bakeries, which serve as community anchors throughout Mexico City.
“Did he really say that?” asked Roberto Celorio Díaz, a retiree who was buying bread at his “local,” Lupita Bakery, when informed of Hart’s comments.
“It’s very upsetting for Mexicans,” he said. “Foreigners come, they live in our city and criticize our food, our culture. Maybe it is better that they stay in their country where, according to them, everything is better.”
McDonnell is editor and Sánchez Vidal is special correspondent.
