One of the most important elements in the offerings of the traditional Day of the Dead is bread.
There are many varieties, sizes and flavors. In Chilpancingo, one of the breads that is not missing in the offerings is the well-known doll bread with pink sugar.
This bread is made in the state. It is a bread that has the shape of a person, with legs, arms and sprinkled with pink sugar on top.
In the region of the Tierra Caliente there is a similar version of this bread, the only thing that changes is that it does not contain sugar. It is a white bread with feminine and masculine form.
According to bakers from Chilpancingo, this monkey or doll bread is the best-selling bread this Day of the Dead season and the most used on altars.
“Over the years, the origin of this doll bread has been lost, many no longer know the history or origin, but by tradition it is one of those that can not be missing on the altars,” said a bread seller.
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The doll bread is the traditional one of Guerrero, its origin is unknown, and only some things are known that pass from mouth to mouth through the years.
“It is said that the doll represents the essence of the person who comes and it is said that sugar is pink by blood and other versions indicate that it was by the blood of the sacrificed of pre-Hispanic times,” said Gabriela Sánchez, of the bakery La Chilapeña.
In Guerrero, the doll or monkey bread is the one that most place as bread of the dead, but outside the state the bread of the dead is one that we know here as bitter.
The bitter is a round bread, above they have small decorations that simulate bones and in the center a ball that is mentioned is a skull.
From this bread there is more research and documented background. Fray Diego de Durán, historian and priest at the time of the colony, in his chronicle on the offering of Huitzilopochtli, mentions that the closest reference to the bread of the dead was the papalotlaxcalli, which was exclusive to this ceremony and describes it as a kind of tortilla in which a stamp in the form of a butterfly was printed on the raw dough and once cooked it was painted in multiple colors.
Bitterness is also a popular bread in Guerrero. According to a survey conducted by Amapola journalism to different traditional bakeries of Chilpancingo, which sell their products in the VII Bread Festival, the people of Guerrero prefer doll bread to bitter bread, the latter is in second place in sales.
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The cemita, despite being a traditional and popular bread in the Central region, this season is superseded by doll bread and bitter.
These traditional breads are adapted for a younger audience.
For example, the traditional bitter only carry sugar on top. Bakeries such as La Chilapeña, innovate in their realization.
They have a bitter stuff filled with different flavors like nutella and jams.
“Older people do prefer traditional bread and take the bitters and dolls with them, but the younger ones are the ones who buy the bitter stuffed.”
Bakeries know the importance of bread for offerings and try to keep the tradition of artisanal bread alive, but they innovate without any problem.
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