By Isla Quinn
Soft below, crisp above. That is the whole idea of a concha, and the sources spend most of their words on what it is made of and very few on who first made it.
Two parts, one bun
Yucatán Magazine, a regional magazine, says a concha has two parts: a soft, brioche-like roll and a crunchy topping of flour, butter and sugar. The topping is scored before baking to make the pattern. Wikipedia describes the same two parts, a sweetened bread roll and a crunchy topping, and lists the roll’s ingredients as yeast, butter, flour, oil, sugar, evaporated milk, salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon and eggs. For the topping it lists sugar, butter, flour and vanilla extract. A blog called The Other Side of the Tortilla says the bread is a light, airy bread made from masa de bizcocho, with a topping of flour, sugar and shortening. Shortening against butter is one small difference between the three, and we report it without picking one.
The name
Concha is Spanish for shell. Both Wikipedia and the magazine tie the name to the round shape and the striped, seashell-like top.
Colors
Wikipedia gives the common topping flavors as chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. The magazine matches them to brown, white or cream, and pink, and adds newer variations with coffee, orange or a custard filling. The blog says the traditional toppings are white or brown, the brown made with cocoa powder, and that pink, yellow and blue are also common today. The magazine makes a point that a shopper may like to know: it says the taste is largely the same whatever the color of the topping, with some exceptions. In Veracruz, the blog says, the concha is also known as a bomba.
Where it came from
Here the sources part. Wikipedia says the origin is unknown, that many believe it dates to the colonial period and was introduced by French bakers in New Spain, and that another account credits a nobleman who dipped bread into hot chocolate in public. The magazine says the exact origin is unknown, that most evidence points to the colonial period after the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century, and that some sources link the tradition to French bakers in the nineteenth century. It presents the dipping story only as a legend. The blog places the rise of pan dulce in the mid-1800s, with French influence growing afterward. A bakery’s own education page, La Monarca, says French influence in baking peaked in the early 1900s. Wheat, it adds, was among the first foods brought to New Spain.
Our reading: the French link is the one thread all four sources touch, and none of them gives a document for it. The only dated fact is that both Wikipedia and the magazine say the first recorded concha recipe is from 1820.
How many kinds of pan dulce
The blog says there may be as many as 2,000 types of pan dulce in Mexico. The bakery’s page estimates between 500 and 2,000 types of breads and pastries. These are estimates, not counts. The blog gives other types by name: orejas, cuernitos and marranitos, shaped like pigs. It calls the concha the most popular and widely known.
A cousin in Japan
Wikipedia notes a Japanese pastry, melonpan, which it says is scored like a melon rind and has a crispier exterior than a concha. The article lists it as a related pastry. It does not say one came from the other, and nor do we.
With what, and when
The magazine says conchas are commonly eaten for breakfast or as an afternoon snack, often with hot chocolate or champurrado, a thick, chocolate-based corn drink. Wikipedia says they are typically eaten at breakfast with milk or coffee.
Dates in order
- Sixteenth century: the colonial period begins, with wheat brought to New Spain, according to the magazine and the bakery.
- 1820: the first recorded recipe, according to Wikipedia and the magazine.
- Mid-1800s: pan dulce rises in popularity, according to the blog.
- Early 1900s: French influence in baking at its peak, according to the bakery.
Side by side
The four sources agree on what a concha is and disagree on how it began. Wikipedia and the magazine agree on the unknown origin, the 1820 recipe and the dipping legend. The blog and the bakery put the French influence in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, while Wikipedia says French bakers came in the colonial period. We keep all three and do not reconcile them.
What kind of sources these are
Wikipedia; Yucatán Magazine, a regional magazine; a food blog; and a bakery’s own web page, which is promotional. We read no cookbook, archive or historian, and we give no prices.
Questions a buyer would ask
Is the topping made with butter or with shortening, given that the sources differ? Is the roll plain or filled? What flavor is the topping, and does it matter? The magazine says the flavor of the topping is usually close to the same whatever its color. We name no bakery and no recipe, and we make no claim about any particular one.
What we left out
We left out all prices, which two of the sources give. We left out an origin story from a social-media post, because we could not weigh the source. We left out the name of one Mexico City bakery known for seasonal shapes, and the Wikipedia remarks on how the bun traveled to other countries.
Quick answers
What does concha mean? Concha is Spanish for shell, according to Wikipedia and Yucatán Magazine, a reference to the round shape and the scored, seashell-like topping.
Where did the concha come from? Nobody knows. Wikipedia and Yucatán Magazine both say the origin is unknown, and both give 1820 as the date of the first recorded recipe.
What do you eat with a concha? Yucatán Magazine says hot chocolate or champurrado, a thick chocolate corn drink. Wikipedia says milk or coffee, usually at breakfast.
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