Pastry War...What is it Good For?

click on image

In 1838 a French pastry cook, Monsieur Remontel, claimed that his shop in the Tacubaya district of Mexico City had been ruined by looting Mexican officers in 1828. He appealed to France's King Louis-Philippe (1773–1850). Coming to its citizen's aid, France demanded 600,000 pesos in damages. This amount was extremely high when compared to an average workman's daily pay, which was about one peso. When the payment was not forthcoming from president Anastasio Bustamante, the king sent a fleet  to declare a blockade of all Mexican ports. Mexico declared war on France. And so the Pastry War began.

But the fact remained that this French chef was heralded by the townsfolk as the greatest pastry chef, and with the blockade, he could not make them for the people to enjoy over coffee. So the people took action. With trade cut off, the Mexicans began smuggling imports into Corpus Christi, Texas, and then into Mexico. A battalion of men of the Republic of Texas force began patrolling Corpus Christi Bay to stop Mexican smugglers. One smuggling party abandoned their cargo of about a hundred barrels of flour on the beach at the mouth of the bay, thus giving Flour Bluff its name. 

Bisbee Coffee Company remembers this casualty of war, and provide a choice of pastries and a variety of muffins: Triple Chocolate, Blueberry and Multigrain mixed berry. Pared with a hot cup of dark or medium roasted coffee, you can see just how easy things can get out of hand when a pastry cook does not get his way...