Flavors · Saltillo

Pan de pulque

Sweet wheat bread fermented with pulque, the agave fermented drink, instead of common yeast, and sweetened with piloncillo. It is Saltillo’s traditional bread in Coahuila, a legacy of the meeting between Spanish wheat and pulque.

Traditional sweet from Saltillo, Coahuila

Also known as: pan de pulque saltillense, pan de pulque de Saltillo

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Saltillo
Saltillo
Pan de pulque — Saltillo, Mexico
Pan de pulque
Pan de pulque — Saltillo, Mexico
Pan de pulque
Pan de pulque — Saltillo, Mexico
Pan de pulque
Pan de pulque — Saltillo, Mexico
Pan de pulque

Pan de pulque — Saltillo, Mexico

Pan de pulque is Saltillo’s traditional bread. Wheat-flour dough rises with pulque, the agave fermented drink, instead of common yeast. The result is a soft bread with a moist crumb and gentle acidity, sweetened with piloncillo or sugar; many bakeries add walnuts, a major product of Coahuila.

The tradition reflects the meeting of two cultures: wheat brought by the Spanish and pulque, long used by the peoples of central Mexico. At the end of the 16th century, Tlaxcalan families settled beside the village of Saltillo, and local tradition connects them to the habit of using pulque to make bread rise. This practice spread along towns on the old Camino Real but remained especially strong in Saltillo, in Arteaga and in southeast Coahuila.

The bread appears in several shapes: round golden loaves, long pieces topped with sesame, and empanadas filled with sweet or savory fillings. The same dough is also used for chorreadas, breads bathed in piloncillo syrup. Several Saltillo bakeries have made pan de pulque for generations, each keeping its own recipe.

In Saltillo, pan de pulque accompanies breakfast and the afternoon snack, served with a cup of coffee or atole, and is often taken as a gift by visitors to the city.

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Where it comes from

Saltillo , Coahuila
Bread fermented with pulque, heritage of Tlaxcalan families who settled near Saltillo; the tradition persists mainly in the city and in Arteaga.

Ingredients

Wheat flour, pulque, piloncillo or sugar, and fat; sometimes walnuts in the dough and sesame on top.

How it is eaten

With coffee, hot chocolate or atole, at breakfast or in the afternoon.

When it is eaten

Year-round, as an everyday item; also taken as a gift from Saltillo.

Your questions

Questions about Pan de pulque

What is pan de pulque?

It is a wheat bread fermented with pulque, the agave fermented drink, instead of common yeast. It is the traditional bread of Saltillo.

What shapes does Saltillo’s pan de pulque come in?

It can appear as round loaves, long pieces and empanadas. Chorreadas are topped with piloncillo syrup.

What do you eat pan de pulque with?

Generally with coffee, hot chocolate or atole, at breakfast or for an afternoon snack.

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