On a roll Winnipegger taps into Guatemalan grandmother’s expertise to introduce conchas — popular Latin American sweet buns — to locals By: David Sanderson Posted: 6:00 AM CDT Saturday, Sep. 7, 2024

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This article was published 07/09/2024 (574 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

How the Mexican concha is going mainstream blared a recent headline.

The accompanying piece detailed how the humble concha, a fluffy, sweet-tasting bread roll that derives its name from a crumbly topping made to resemble a seashell, or concha in Spanish, is currently enjoying a moment in the sun.

That’s thanks in large part to an Instagram community that has been posting one shot after another of concha cakes, concha doughnuts… even concha burgers. According to the article, their efforts are being inspired by Cosme, a contemporary Mexican restaurant in New York City that raised foodies’ eyebrows after it added a gourmet concha to its Michelin-star rated menu.

“The popularity of conchas is going to continue to grow as mainstream diners learn more about and appreciate Mexican cuisine,” a Colorado-based chef was quoted as saying, in regard to the baked good whose origin dates back to the 18th century, when European colonists introduced similar-in-nature brioche and baguettes to Latin America.

“Just look at how popular a croissant is. I think (conchas) will start catching on in the same way,” he added.

Closer to home, Transcona resident Dylan Gomez is the founder of Concha Craze, a home-based enterprise that has been selling six varieties of handmade conchas, including maple-pecan and s’mores, at public markets in and around the city since early July.

Initially, the 25-year-old figured the vast majority of his clientele would be members of Winnipeg’s sizable Latino community. He’s pleased to report that hasn’t been the case entirely.

“It’s been all over the map, really, including new Canadians who’d never heard of conchas before,” Gomez says, seated in a bustling, Regent Avenue coffee shop. “Also, a lot of people have been telling us about how they first tried conchas in Mexico, and how ours remind them of being on vacation. That’s always fun to hear.”

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Both of Gomez’s parents are originally from Guatemala, where conchas are as commonplace in that country’s bakeries, called panaderías, as muffins are in their Canadian counterparts. Gomez, who was born in Winnipeg and who works full-time for an HVAC company, can’t remember too many family gatherings at which conchas expertly prepared by his mother or grandmother weren’t part of the proceedings.

“My mom’s are delicious but even she would admit that my grandma is the true master baker,” he says with a laugh.

Funnily enough, Concha Craze wasn’t inspired by a trip Gomez took to Guatemala in 2018, but rather by a vacation he and his partner Rydell went on to Banff, two summers ago.

While strolling through the resort town’s main shopping district, Gomez struck up conversations with a healthy number of tourists who turned out to be visiting from Mexico and Central America. Hmm, he told Rydell later that evening; wouldn’t it be great if there was a spot somewhere in Banff that specialized in pan dulce (sweet bread) such as besos and conchas for Latino travellers looking for a taste of home?

A move west may not have been in the cards for the pair, but Gomez continued to daydream about a concha biz, nonetheless. He guesses it was in January 2023 when he approached his grandmother, to ask if she could teach him the ins and outs of baking them from scratch. Of course, came her reply.

He smiles, recalling the moment he learned his grandmother’s recipes weren’t written down; that they were all filed away in her head. He informed her that a pinch of this and a touch of that wasn’t going to cut it if he intended to sell conchas commercially.

It took three months of baking side-by-side with her, before he felt like he knew what he was doing, and that he had the measurements just right, he goes on, mentioning that his partner, who is of German descent, handles the decorating side of things, which involves achieving the signature seashell look with a design cutter.

“That’s when we started to think about alternatives to vanilla, which is the norm, and started experimenting with different toppings like Oreo and Nutella, to make our conchas stand out from the crowd, so to speak.”

Concha Craze was officially launched as an online entity in August 2023. Interested parties were able to order individual conchas for pickup, or as packs of six or 12. By June of this year, Gomez was confident enough in the product that he approached the organizers of Summer of Locals, to inquire about vendor opportunities at a two-day affair that was sheld the first weekend of July at Outlet Collection Winnipeg on Sterling Lyon Parkway.

He admits to being nervous at the end of the first day, when he and his mom, who joined him at his booth, were staring down at about three-quarters of what they had brought with them. Day 2 was “crazy busy,” however, and he guesses he would have sold out completely if he hadn’t gone from station to station that morning, dropping off free conchas to his fellow entrepreneurs. (In case you didn’t know, conchas taste great dipped in coffee, he says with a wink.)

Following the Outlet event, he was contacted by the organizers of the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market and the Wolseley Farmers’ Market, both of which he’d put out feelers to.

“In my head I was like, I don’t know if I have enough time to make conchas for two markets, but I didn’t want to miss out on what seemed like a golden opportunity. But thanks to my mom and my boyfriend — I even got an uncle involved — we’ve been able to pull it off.”

With the summer market season winding down, Gomez is considering what’s next for Concha Craze. Catering for weddings and birthday parties is one possibility. And owing to the fact he has close to 100 ideas for alternate flavours, including pumpkin spice for autumn, he hopes to introduce a rotating menu with at least one new variety being made available through his website (conchacraze.ca) every two weeks or so.

As well, he can’t stop contemplating a permanent spot, the sort he envisioned when he and Rydell were in Banff.

“Maybe a food trailer until we get a little café of our own, though a kiosk at somewhere like The Forks would be amazing, as well,” he says, noting he’d also to love to get involved with other Latino entrepreneurs — he mentions the owner of Café Lima, who specializes in Peruvian-inspired empanadas — by staging pop-ups that would bring all of them together under one roof.

In the meantime, he’ll concentrate on a stuffed dulce de leche concha he’s perfecting ahead of National Hispanic Heritage month, which is celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

Oh, and he’s also looking into postal rates.

“My mom says her cousins in California are bugging her for conchas. I’d be happy to send them some but the cost of shipping would probably be insane,” he chuckles.

david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca