Pan con Madre: Oaxaca’s Sourdough Pioneer

Six days a week, Pan con Madre buzzes with activity, filled with the irresistible scents of rows and rows of freshly baked sourdough bread and other treats. While today this is one of Oaxaca’s most interesting and popular bakeries, the road to success for Pan con Madre has been a long journey of experimentation, risk taking and innovation.

In 2015, a very inspired Jorge Rodrigo Ocampo, now 38, arrived in Oaxaca City with the idea to open a space where he could put all his bread-baking knowledge into action. During his university years he had complemented his biology studies with a part-time job as photojournalist for newspapers in Guadalajara, Querétaro, and his hometown of León, but it was baking that truly captured his imagination. “I wanted to change the world. But after some time working for the media, I realized that this was not going to happen. I loved that job, but I was very disappointed,” he recalls. “I had tried sourdough and liked it, so I started baking to forget my bitter experience with journalism.”

By the time Jorge settled in Oaxaca, he was already a skilled baker, influenced by his biology studies. “I’m self-taught,” he explains. “I joined an online blog where pioneering sourdough bakers would upload classes, recipes and tips. I would practice over and over and share my experiences with my blog peers. We were a great community that helped each other grow. Some of these blog members have become well-known bakers with very successful business across the country.”

Back in the early-to mid-2010s, the sourdough bread scene in Mexico was just starting to emerge – while in corn-oriented places like Oaxaca, hardly anyone had heard of a sourdough loaf, much less consumed one. The conditions Rodrigo encountered upon opening Pan con Madre were disheartening. Locals didn’t seem interested – they’d pass by Pan con Madre’s original location in front of La Cruz de Piedra, a tiny plaza in the heart of downtown, without a second look. Most of Jorge’s customers were random tourists who would stop in to buy a loaf or two during their short stays.

By the end of 2015, there were only two bakeries of this kind in the city. During this time, however, Oaxacan food started to receive increasing attention in Mexico and beyond. Many locals were inspired to explore both traditional food and the new projects arriving in town. Jorge persevered, and he saw consumption increase as locals passing by his bakery started to try his sourdough bread and enjoy the new flavors it had to offer, while others started to see it as offering alternative for dietary restrictions or having health benefits. Wheat is not widely consumed in Oaxaca, but Jorge knew it had many possibilities. “Oaxacan wheat is quite particular. Some researchers think the seeds are closer to the seeds Spanish brought centuries ago. The bread here might be less fluffy than the one we find in the north, but it is also nutritionally more interesting” explains Jorge. The slightly acidic, firm-yet-elastic texture of the bread, its affordable prices and freshness were some of the things that turned Pan con Madre into an interesting spot worth trying.

Jorge’s sourdough loafs, scones and baguettes became highly sought after, especially by customers looking for flavorful bread for sandwiches and toasts. Meanwhile, sweet breads like croissants and Pan con Madre’s signature Goyitos (a scone-like bread covered with powdered sugar and cinnamon) intrigued those with a sweet tooth. Back in those days, Pan con Madre’s creations seemed almost alchemical, as they combined textures and flavors unknown to most of its customers. This experimental soul is very much alive today – the number of breads on offer has doubled, and new ingredients are incorporated constantly. In addition to bread, the bakery offers cookies and pizzas, conchas (a classical Mexican sweet bread), cardamom or cinnamon rolls, rosemary-ricotta rolls, chocolate tarts, fruit pies that change seasonally, brownies, almond cake, and banana bread – all sourdough. Now that Pan con Madre has relocated to a bigger and brighter space, there is room for people to sit, chat or work while enjoying their food with a delicious drink from a diverse menu that includes assorted teas, freshly brewed coffee in all forms, multiflavored kombuchas and bubbly ginger beer.

The uniqueness of Pan con Madre, however, goes beyond its vibrant creations and space. What is perhaps most impressive are the inner workings of the business. “Today we are a business with seventy percent local customers,” says Jorge, a far cry from the bakery’s early days. “I adapted my bread to their palates and habits. In turn, Oaxacans shed a new light on concepts that I had never deeply examined, like ‘communality’ – the experience of actively contributing to the community – solidarity, [and] collective effort.”

His words reflect years of work with farmers and producers across the state, and are also an example of his business philosophy. In the last couple of years, Pan con Madre has been transitioning from a one-man shop to a collective business owned by its bakers and managers. Decisions about the menu, expansion and diversification are all made collectively. Pan con Madre’s bakers explore new flavors and train new team members; its managers keep the place running; its creatives have developed a “bread consultation” service to share knowledge with new businesses outside the city. Jorge, meanwhile, is focused on building new relationships with farmers to improve Pan con Madre’s sourcing of high-quality wheat and other ingredients, like berries and spices.

In the end, the idea is to promote a process in which producers, makers and customers are part of the same cycle and nurture each other. “We are like sourdough ourselves: a living organism that grows together, emotionally and professionally,” he says.

Published on November 17, 2023

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