Building on Mexico News Daily’s history of Mexican bread, published earlier this year, two Mexican bakers have created a new “map” that charts the vast, often overlooked world of Mexican breads — from conchas and bolillos to coyotas, pan de muerto and rosca de Reyes.
The Primer Mapa del Pan Mexicano — or First Map of Mexican Bread — is a research project by siblings Ariana and Julio González, the founding bakers at 13-year-old Buñuelo in Naucalpan, State of México.
Instead of sorting breads by state or region, the map tracks their baking lineage: dough, technique and tradition.
That framework shows how one preparation style can develop into breads with markedly different shapes, textures and uses, with seemingly unrelated pieces sharing production methods or customs.
The map includes sweet breads, or pan dulce, savory staples and festive breads such as pan de muerto for Día de Muertos and rosca de Reyes for Three Kings Day.
The savory family includes bolillo, telera, pambazo, cemita and hojaldra, breads commonly used in tortas and other Mexican sandwiches.
Other families include bizcocho — sweet, cake-like breads including conchas, nubes and pelones — and the cookie family, which includes cochinitos de piloncillo, coricos and coyotas, the last being Sonoran pastries typically filled with piloncillo.
Other breads in the festive category include pan de pulque, pan de yema and a specialty bread sold at festivals and patron saint celebrations in Puebla and Tlaxcala called pan de fiesta or pan de feria.
The González siblings — recently named Bakers of the Year by the Mexico Gastronomic Guide — developed the project through years of fieldwork at traditional and contemporary bakeries. Designer Marcela Morales turned the research into a reference piece.
The total number of Mexican breads remains an elusive proposition. Estimates often put the figure above 1,000 varieties, but the map is not presented as a census. Its 52 selections are representative samples meant to illuminate a larger and still-changing baking heritage.
“This map is not intended to be a definitive catalog of Mexican breadmaking, but rather an invitation to see it from a different perspective,” Julio González said, “We want people to understand that behind each piece there are techniques, traditions, and baking families that are all part of the same heritage.”
The map arrives after a period of renewed attention to Mexican breadmaking.
In late 2025, a British baker based in Mexico City voiced a blunt opinion about Mexican bread culture (or, in his opinion, lack thereof) and received widespread backlash, including a Mexico News Daily piece noting, “You’re free to dislike bolillos … Just don’t use cultural superiority as a seasoning.”
Then earlier this year, Panadería Rosetta in Mexico City was named one of the world’s 10 best pastry makers by La Liste, a prestigious Paris‑based global dining guide.
For now, the single-sheet map is being sold for 135 pesos (US $7.88) at Buñuelo, Av. Alcanfores 44-2 in Naucalpan. See the bakery’s Instagram for more details, including a planned digital version.
With reports from Food & Wine en Español and El Universal
