When I first arrived in Melbourne nine years ago, I was introduced to a beautiful group of Mexican Irish friends, or more specifically, Mexican girls with Irish partners. My initial fascination with this particular combo quickly disappeared into the absolute joy I had spending time with them. Many in that group have moved on or away but I feel lucky that Greta and her Irish Dave remain amongst my dearest friends in Melbourne. It is thanks to Greta that I learned about Sando Mateos and his Mexican sweet breads. Sando arrived in Melbourne in March and despite being in a new city in lockdown, has established a thriving business selling conchas, or sweet bread. This weekend is a biggy because of the Day of the Dead festivities and all the dead bread (pan de muerto) he is making. It was a joy speaking to Sando and knowing that there is another lovely Mexican doing great things in Melbourne.
Hola Sando!
Hola! That's Spanish, that's very good. That's very cool for a Mexican to hear.
Thanks very much for talking to me today, Sando. I dont know very much about you, except what you have been posting on Instagram since you started La Concheria. Maybe you could tell me your story. Where do you come from?
I'm from Mexico. I was born in Mexico City, then I moved with my family to Puebla, where I spent almost all of my life. Puebla is a city, located two hours from Mexico City. I grew up there and studied there, then I had the opportunity to work there as well. Then after so many years, I decided to give a twist to my life before making roots in my country, because maybe when you make roots, you don't want to move anymore and go to another place and try different things. That's why I came here to Australia.
Well it certainly has been a twist, hasn't it? You probably didn't really intend to come here and then be in lockdown for so long either.
That's true. I didn't think it was going to take so much time and effort for everybody. I know that this is worldwide, and my family is also struggling with this in Mexico, but I didn't think that this was going to happen with this magnitude. This has changed humanity completely; the way of living for all of us.
When did you arrive in Melbourne?
I arrived in March.
Oh! So your experience has been Melbourne in lockdown; that's terrible.
That's true. A lot of people told me that Melbourne is a very cosmopolitan city and there are a lot of events and many places to go with friends, but for now I have just experienced the lockdown. It's not bad but its not what people used to say about it.
Not at all! Tell me about Mexican bread. Are you a trained baker or how did this come about? How did you start your business?
All of this came about because of my grandparents. Both families were bakers and also a family of artisans who make nativity figures, the religious ones, in clay and porcelain. I learned those two jobs. But I also did another thing; I studied engineering, as many Mexicans do. But at the same time, I used to help the family with this side business. So thats how I know how to make bread, but not only bread, I can cook Mexican food. There are already a lot of people here in Melbourne doing Mexican food. I was surprised because in Mexico the culture of Mexican bread is huge. In Mexico, Mexicans eat more sweet bread than they eat tacos. That's amazing because around the world, people think we only eat tacos. It's true we eat tacos but we eat more Mexican sweet bread than tacos. I have travelled to different places in the world, but I havent seen the culture of sweet bread anywhere. So maybe not many people know about it. In Mexico we eat it for breakfast and at night as a snack. That's why I wanted to make something different and started in the Mexican community. I started with one bread and the people liked it and they asked for another kind of bread and came up with other ideas. I also had other recipes from my family and started to make more and more bread and now I have a menu with different options that people can enjoy. I am really happy about that.
Can you explain what some of those options are? Actually, what IS a traditional sweet bread?
In Mexico, it's amazing because Mexican cuisine has many different options, depending on the region. Trying to cover all the options and all the regions would be overwhelming, so I am making the most popular and traditional as well as trying some new recipes to innovate here. But the first is the conchas; the traditional conchas is similar to the Japanese melon bread. It is brioche with a sugary custard on top and it is the most common bread around Mexico. In Mexico, we eat that almost every day. That's what Mexican families go to buy in the bakeries, the conchas, and that is why I called my business La Concheria, because it is the most common.
The second bread is a seasonal bread I am doing now and is gaining more popularity around the world because of the Festival of the Day of the Dead and that is the Dead Bread or Pan de Muerto. This bread is one that we make in Mexico in October and November. This bread has an explanation because it is like the circle of life. On top it has bread balls representing skulls and bones and the bread, itself has essences in it, like orange water or anise or some others that remember the essence of the ones that have gone. We place these as offerings in Mexico, so one week before, we place this kind of bread and it stays there until the 2nd November. We have two days to celebrate the dead coming to visit us. They eat, not only the bread, but the traditional dishes they eat in life and then they go away and the families share all of the bread and the dishes to commemorate that they are still living. So that's another bread. Then there are other ones depending on region and season, like the Pan de feria which is sold only during festivities and other regional breads that I am starting to do; I'm trying to get a bread from every region in Mexico.
Another thing that is innovative about this, are the vegan options. In Mexico, we don't have a big vegan culture, like here. Here, I was asked to do vegan options so I started with vegan conchas and dead bread and now I am trying to make more vegan options for the Melburnians.
I didn’t know when I started that it would become this and become like a proper business. I have a lot of steps to take to make it into a bigger business but it’s exciting and that’s how to do it; step by step. That people are enjoying it is my best gift, when people come to me and say they are so happy, thats the best.
Do you need a special flour to make the breads?
For the conchas, I use wheat flour, and some options, like the corn bread has corn flour, and the vegan options, I am using different flours, like almond meal and things like that. But most of them are wheat.
Are you baking them at home?
I am starting to think of other options. At the beginning it was done so I could survive here, because I arrived and didn't get a job so I started making conchas to survive. I got a good response and I started to condition my kitchen. This kitchen is amazing because I only use it for my baking. My flat mate doesn't cook anything so the only thing I make here is bread. Now because of the demand, I am thinking of moving to a bakery or share a space with someone else. That is for risk assessment more than anything else, because I dont know if we will be open forever because of Covid so it's a risk to make a big investment as well as starting a business in a new country. That's why I am looking at options in my neighbourhood. The demand has grown to be more than I can handle in my house.
Are your customers mainly Mexican?
Almost all Mexican. It's amazing because I didn't think there were too many Mexicans here in Melbourne, but I was surprised to receive messages form Mexicans in the inner suburbs and the word of mouth is amazing. They recommend me to one or two people and it just spreads. And even though I now have Instagram and Facebook, the word of mouth is still the most powerful thing. 85% are Mexican and the others are relatives to Mexicans and now I am starting to get orders from other nationalities, like French and Australian. It is starting to spread amongst Australians because the Mexican sweetbread wasn't as well known as tacos but once they try it, they like it.
Absolutely and they look so good in your Instagram photos. They are beautiful in the shapes and the twists you are doing. Delicious and sweet!
Thanks.
I know that my friend, Greta, who told me about you was so excited to discover there was finally Mexican sweet bread in Melbourne.
You know, Greta comes every week for conchas; she and Sara. One week Greta makes the orders and Sara oicks them up and the next week Sara makes the order and Greta picks it up. Last Friday Greta and Sara came together to get conchas for a picnic they were having nearby. They are really nice people.
They are and I dont know what they did without you! How much bread are you making a week?
It depends on the Mexicans, or the customers. But on average, I would make 100 loaves a weekend. I have shelves for 120 breads. So I am almost at full capacity.
Do you make them to order, so you don't have any waste?
Yes, that's true, I only make bread to request and so I dont have any waste and as soon as I make the bread, I deliver it, so it is fresh and I think that's what people like about it. What I do is from Monday to Thursday, I receive the orders and I am at the oven all Friday, all day. Then I deliver all Saturday all over Melbourne.
Well you will have discovered a lot more of Melbourne by doing that, I suppose, by driving around, at least. How can people find you to order and make you even more busy?
They can follow Instagram and Facebook and I have information in there. My menu is on Facebook. I am making the webpage now but it is a lot of work for one person. I have someone who is starting to help me because now the management and operations demand a lot of time. All the details and contacts are in Facebook or Instagram so that people can ask for their Mexican breads.
Perfect. Thank you so much for talking to me and congratulations for making something work so well in a new country and in lockdown. You have done amazingly well.
Thank you so much. I didn't know when I started that it would become this and become like a proper business. I have a lot of steps to take to make it into a bigger business but it's exciting and that's how to do it; step by step. That people are enjoying it is my best gift, when people come to me and say they are so happy, thats the best.
Thats wonderful. Gracias, Sando, and good luck for this coming weekend.