image/svg+xml
Camotero
Street Food Characters

The street food trades, and those who practice them, keep its essence alive. They make us crave and preserve traditions that enrich the city’s culture. That is why we honor them.

At six in the morning there is already bread and coffee in baskets and thermoses on a tricycle. Although those who pedal do not bake, we call them “the tricycle bakers” and their trade is as old as the bakeries where they stock up before dawn. Their work is indispensable for a city that needs coffee to wake up and sweet bread to do it in a good mood.

The merenguero is more discreet but admirable. His trade is one of risk and skill, he prepares delicate gaznates as a craft, and then balances them on a tray on his head as he walks and proclaims: “Merengues, there are merengues!”.

There is also the tortero, with his little shop or stall on the sidewalk; the barbacollero, who shows up on weekends or on flea market days and, among many others, the camotero, who shines with the deep nostalgia evoked by the whistle of his cart. Announcer without an announcement, his melancholic sound sketches an old Mexico, when there was more time to enjoy some warm bananas with cream and cinnamon. More than a profession, it is a force that pushes us to serenity.

Long live those who dedicate their lives to the trades of street food!

Panadero