Bolillo (bread)

Typical pocket of Mexico City.

A tamal or guajolota cake, prepared with a bowl.

The bolillo, white bread, barra or French bread is, in Mexico and Central America, a type cheap and quite popular bread made with wheat flour, which is not considered sweet.

It has an oval or rhomboid shape and a longitudinal cut at the top; on the outside it is golden and crispy, on the inside it is white and soft. The bolillo is similar to French bread and is used to prepare Mexican muffins and tortas. Sometimes, the bolillo dough is given the shape of a bread in three bodies, and commercially it is given the name of telera. In Jalisco, a similar bread of French origin called birote is made, which is characterized by having a different flavor and to be sold in three variants: phleima, salty and sweet. The salty birote is more elongated, has a sour taste and a leathery consistency and is used in the preparation of drowned cakes.

It is believed that the way to make pasta and bolillo bread as it is, arrived in Mexico in the 19th century, during the French intervention in Mexico. In certain parts of the country (for example, Jalisco), a bread similar to a baguette was made before the popularization of such bread in supermarkets, which occurred during the accelerated urbanization in the 20th century.

Variant

In Venezuela there is a very similar variant, which is actually derived from the baguette (called canilla in this country), but unlike the telera described here It tends to be rather thin with a slightly softer but golden crust. It is known as French bread and is mostly used to make sandwiches.