A beehive of activity: La Colmena, the''blue doo'' bakery, By Jesús Ibarra, August 25, 2006

A beehive of activity: La Colmena, the "blue door" bakery
By Jesús Ibarra, August 25, 2006

Editor's note: San Miguel is filled with colorful history, but the story of its denizens is equally captivating. Our local business people are much more than merchants-they are neighbors and friends. In this issue, Atención San Miguel begins a new series about some of the traditional businesses and personalities that give this town its special flavor. Send your suggestions to edit@atencionsanmiguel.org

One of the many charms of San Miguel's historic center is the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread that daily wafts down calle Relox.

Even passersby who have just finished breakfast find the temptation of a fresh pan dulce from La Colmena (The Beehive)-known as the "blue-door bakery"-irresistible. One of the oldest businesses in town, the bakery has been in the same family for three generations.

Conchas, novias, donas, chilindrinas, orejas, polvorones and campechanas line the shelves of the old bakery, and sanmiguelenses and tourists eagerly line up to load their trays with the mouth-watering breads and pastries.

More than a century of tradition

Don Florentino Rayas opened the city's first bakery at Relox 21 in 1901. Like many sanmiguelenses, his business occupied the front room of the family home, but it has grown over the years to take over the whole ground floor.

Different family members have run the business at various times. During the 1950s, Don Florentino passed the bakery on to one of his daughters, Luz, whose son, Manuel, later inherited the enterprise. However, the youthful Manuel closed the bakery to pursue studies in Mexico City. "Some years later, my father, Antonio Rayas Gutiérrez, who had a bakery in Querétaro, reopened La Colmena," says current owner José Antonio Rayas, grandson of Don Florentino. "When my father passed away, my mother, Bernardina Trejo, took over the bakery. Under her management, the business flourished, and I eventually joined her in 1977."

Doña Bernardina modernized the building, replacing the rustic walls and ceilings and installing two more ovens. She also increased the variety of breads and cakes offered for sale.

In spite of the many changes, the family adhered to their grandfather's original recipes. Nowadays, because of competition from family-run and supermarket bakeries as well as sales of factory-produced, prepackaged breads, La Colmena offers a more limited range of goods. Some items, such as sema de leche (a kind of sponge cake), a great favorite in the rural communities, are no longer produced because of the proliferation of small bakeries in rural areas.

Even though its inventory of baked goods is not as large as it once was, La Colmena still bakes an extensive selection of breads, cakes and pastries. The bread selection includes white and whole-grain loaves, rolls (bolillo and telera for tortas) and baguettes. The choice of cakes and other sweet breads is even greater and includes pan de bola (sponge cake), fruta de horno (biscuits) and many pastries.

Conchas, chilindrinas and novias are some of the types of sponge cakes offered; Sevillanas, polvorones and roscas are examples of some of the biscuits baked at La Colmena. Pastries, also known as feités, include orejas and campechanas and, of course, the mouth-watering tuna-, chicken-, cheese- or beef-filled empanadas.

Public holidays are not days of rest for the workers at La Colmena, who are busy as bees during fiestas, when sales and orders increase dramatically. During special festivities such as Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on November 1 and 2 and Tres Reyes (Three Kings Day) on January 6, the La Colmena staff works almost 24 hours a day to produce the delicious cakes identified with these unique Mexican holidays-the pan de muerto (cake of the dead) and the rosca de reyes (three kings cake).

Rayas said that the bakery creates more than 700 special cakes for Día de los Muertos. There are two recipes for this traditional cake. The version made with eggs is preferred by most people for private gatherings, but the "traditional" recipe, without eggs, is used for cakes placed as offerings on altars and at gravesides on the last day of October and the first day of November.

For the celebration of Three Kings Day, when children receive gifts from the three wise men, La Colmena bakes more than 1,400 roscas in different sizes. The unique feature of these cakes is the small plastic figure of a baby, a representation of the infant Jesus, hidden inside. Whoever gets the slice with the figure inside is obliged to host a party on February 2 for Candelaria (Candlemas).

According to Rayas, the high season for La Colmena is wintertime. "On a cold day, we sell everything by early evening." At such times the bakery produces approximately 15,000 rolls and 5,000 cakes per week; this figure drops about 20 percent during low season. The bread is never on the shelf for more than 24 hours; leftover products are sold in bulk bags of 60 to 80 pieces for 20 pesos the next day.

La Colmena employs 22 workers-6 shop assistants, all women, and 16 bakers, all men. Two of the bakers are devoted solely to preparing dough and breaking eggs. The bakers are members of a labor union; and, according to Rayas, he has quite a good relationship with the union. "Employees earn about 500 pesos per day," said Rayas. "During high season, they can earn twice the normal salary because they are paid for piecework."

Basilisio Ortiz, better known as "Chicho," has worked at La Colmena for 35 years. "My father, Domingo Ortiz, used to work here, too, and he brought me to work when I was 18 years old," said Chicho, now 53. Chicho bakes pastries, and his specialty is biscuits or fruta de horno. "Among the varieties I bake are oat biscuits, tacos, chocolate roscas, white polvorón, nut polvorón, and espejo," he said.

Although Chicho has two sons and two daughters, none of his children will follow his footsteps into the bakery. "One son is a computer technician, and the other has lived in the United States for many years," said Chicho.

Chicho loves his work. "I have worked here all my life, and I will continue doing it, especially with an employer like Toño (the owner, José Antonio Rayas)." In seven years Chicho will be 60 and eligible for retirement, but he says he will continue working as long as he can.

The tempting treats and affordable prices at La Colmena ensure a constant flow of clients throughout the day, many of whom purchase bread and cakes to sell in local general stores in the outlying colonias. Rolls start at 1.50 pesos, and prices rise to 6 pesos for empanadas. Slices of cake and donuts average 3 pesos.

Melinda Roberts from Vienna, Austria, has been a frequent visitor to San Miguel for many years, and she always buys bread and cakes at La Colmena. "There is a great variety, very good service and I can choose my own bread," she remarks. Patricia Foss, an American resident of Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, also chooses to buy bread from this bakery. "It is the best bread I have ever tasted," she said.

José Antonio Rayas says that the bread and cakes in La Colmena are different from those in other bakeries because they do not contain preservatives or additives that add more volume to the bread or lengthen shelf life.

Although San Miguel has many modern additions, La Colmena is still one feature of the city that maintains its traditional and provincial charm. The bakery operates almost 24 hours a day, Monday through Saturday.

Even when the doors are not open for sales, the bakers are hard at work. From 6am to 12pm they bake cakes; bread is baked from 2pm to 7pm and from 10pm to 7am. The store is open 6am to 2pm and 4:30pm to 9pm. Bread is not baked on Sundays, though the store opens briefly from 6 to 9am.