Keeping Día de Muertos traditions alive in Montreal

It’s a bustling Saturday at Boulangerie Carlota, and there’s a steady stream of customers, all smiles as they look upon a counter laden with baked goods: Rollos de guayaba with dizzying layers of pastry curled around cream cheese and pink guava curd, fluffy concha buns with a crackled, shell-like topping, and focaccia flecked with hibiscus petals and oregano.

The counter at Carlota, located at the corner of St-Urbain and Villeneuve. | Photograph: Rachel Cheng

But these days, the star is the pan de muerto.

Pan de muerto, as its name implies, is baked and eaten around the Mexican holiday of the Day of the Dead, el Día de los Muertos, a festival so significant that it is recognized on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

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