The cheapest baby food/pacifier EVER

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Ok, we’ve turned totally Mexican now. Mom, if you’re reading this, turn away.

When people think of Mexican food and what accompanies it, the first thing that pops into peoples’ heads is tortillas. For the most part that’s true, for those dishes that it goes with, but for far more versatility, Mexicans go for good old bread, just like most of the world. For those not familiar with true Mexican food, traditional white bread are made in small loaves, about 8 inches (20 cm) long, called bolillos (pronounced “bowl-EE-ohs”). Depending on the region and other factors I’m not familiar with, it could be called birote, or if scored in thirds instead of lengthwise, telera (perfect for Cuban sandwiches).

Growing up on the border, I was used to a bolillo that was almost indistinguishable from a mini-French baguette: a firm, chewy but thin crust, and soft/pillowy on the inside. Coming to Guadalajara, I was met with oblong pieces of rock suitable for loading into a torpedo tube, which, after hammering a good two hours, one might get something edible at the very center. I would ask a clerk if these were day (nay, month) old breads, and he assured me, almost insulted, that they were put out that very morning. The thing is, here preservatives are never used for staple foods since people go to the market constantly. Bread lasts maybe a couple of days sealed; fresh corn tortillas might be coaxed into living 4 or so days with Ziplocs and the fridge. It’s not that they go rotten, they just get hard. Tortillas, bolillos, etc. are things that, especially for a family of any real size, are bought and/or delivered daily. Packaged, sliced bread in the supermarkets are different, of course, and they are identical to what Americans would be used to. We’re talking the real food of the Mexican table here, not the supermarket version. In spite of my making fun above, few things are as satisfying to the soul as a good, fresh, still-warm bolillo.

So what do you give a teething, fussy, hungry baby? Day old bolillos!!! Cut an end-piece of that hard bread in a chunk sized way too big to fit in her mouth completely, and you have 1) a nutritious food (no preservatives, just water, flour, leavening and a touch of salt), 2) a solid, organic object for her to rub her gums better than any plastic teething ring, and 3) something that is light enough that she can hold with one hand (unlike many of the teething rings) and gain coordination and independence. The 3 gallons of saliva she produces in one hour is just the right amount to slowly but surely soften the bread into minute bits that she can easily handle.

For about a peso per bolillo (literally a dime), I’d say we’ve hit paydirt!! The little one doesn’t care about the value or benefits–she just says, “Keep ‘em coming!”

P.S. The picture above is funny because trying to cut a hard bolillo with a butter knife as shown is about as futile an act as I can think of. That’s why it’s still there, embedded, like Excalibur waiting to be freed. (Okay, I went a little too far there, sorry.)

P.P.S. The word bolillo is also be used as a derogatory term for a gringo or “White Man,” since obviously it refers to white bread.