PASADENA, CA, 25 April 2018 – Baking is as much an art form and common thread between distant global cultures as it is a means to feed one’s community, and one’s family. Back in 1989, Joe Peña – a guitarist, artist, and proud father of three from Los Angeles – turned his passion for baking into La Morenita: a bakery he started that not only produced some of the city’s finest Mexican breads, but produced one of its finest bakers. Alex Peña, Director of Product Development for Bellarise and certified master baker, discusses brioche and how this traditional French bread makes it easy to bake any number of delicious, authentic Hispanic and globally-inspired breads.
“Having grown up in my father’s artisan bakery, I saw that Mexican and French breads have a lot in common.” The range of similar, if not identical, breads is extensive. Peña pointed out that if you remove the sugar and fat from a Mexican bolillo, you get a French baguette or roll. Mexico’s torta ahogada (which is bread soaked in special salsa and filled with hearty meats and vegetables) is directly related to the French dipped sandwich.
According to Peña, aside from its ability to yield great loaves, buns, coffee cakes and twists, brioche unlocks the door to some of the world’s most popular and enduring breads, including Mexico’s sweet conchas and seasonal favorites pan de muerto (which is a traditional, large-format bread baked on the days surrounding Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead) and rosca de reyes (a sweet bread enjoyed during the Christmas season). “Brioche’s versatility even goes beyond Hispanic recipes, since it also gives you a solid foundation for baking some great Asian breads,” Peña adds. He mentioned melon bread as an example of a soft, egg-and-butter-based Japanese bread that resembles the Mexican concha in both taste and appearance.
Industrial bakeries can bake authentic brioche-based breads without much additional work. “Baking Hispanic breads is fairly easy to do on just about any industrial line. And some of the challenges that industrial bakeries face when baking brioche, such as the slower proof times caused by higher sugar content, and dialing in different butter/fat ratios due to certain flours being lower in protein than others, have led our R&D team to develop some pretty interesting solutions.” Indeed, delicious vegan and allergen-free brioche is now possible, where butter and eggs are replaced with clean label and plant-based enzyme solutions that Peña’s team developed.
At a time when snacking dominates the national diet, brioche offers a lot of potential for bakeries of all sizes to serve Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z the foods they hunger for. Brioche is also trending at the same time that Hispanic foods’ popularity is on the rise, and the baking industry is seeing it in bread aisles, c-stores, and in-store bakeries across North America. According to a 2018 Mintel study cited on Bakingbusiness.com, Hispanic/Mexican bread sales are driven by consumers looking for convenient on-the-go snacks.
As a cultural phenomenon ranging from Europe to Latin America and on through Asia and beyond, bread certainly connects people, and makes our lives – as well as our stomachs! – fuller. Brioche is a testament to this, since it allows bakers to produce special breads that mark the most important moments in people’s lives. It’s also a tradition that Peña and his team take seriously, and that we could help you further introduce to the people who enjoy the breads you bake.
Part of our commitment to providing unparalleled customer service is being ready to help bakers bake the best breads in the world, whether that involves providing active support in the lab and during line trials, or taking a phone call any time. Contact us and let our Product Development Department know about your vision for your brioche program. We would gladly help you find the right solutions and support your bakery’s efforts to craft great brioche and Hispanic breads every step of the way.
