A bolillo is a type of savory bread

Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...

 traditionally made in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, where it originates. It is a variation of the baguette

Baguette

A baguette is "a long thin loaf of French bread" that is commonly made from basic lean dough...

, and is often baked in an horno de piedra

Masonry oven

A masonry oven, colloquially known as a brick oven or stone oven, is an oven consisting of a baking chamber made of fireproof brick, concrete, stone, or clay. Though traditionally wood-fired, coal-fired ovens were common in the 19th century, modern masonry ovens are often fired with natural gas or...

.

It is about 15 cm (six inches) long, in the shape of an oval

Oval

An oval is any curve resembling an egg or an ellipse, such as a Cassini oval. The term does not have a precise mathematical definition except in one area oval , but it may also refer to:* A sporting arena of oval shape** a cricket field...

, with a crunchy crust and a soft inside, known as migajón (miɣaˈxon). It is the main ingredient for torta

Torta

Torta is a Spanish word with a huge array of culinary meanings depending from the area and period of history in question. It originated in different regional variants of flatbread, of which the torta de gazpacho and torta cenceña are still surviving in certain areas of central Spain. Tortas are...

s and mollete

Mollete

A mollete is a typical food of Mexico and a kind of bread in Spain.-In Spain:A mollete is a kind of bread roll from the Andalusian region, in southern Spain. It is a soft round white bread, usually served lightly toasted with olive oil and raw garlic or spread with lard in an Andalusian breakfast...

s. A variation of the bolillo is the telera, which is very similar, though it has a more rounded shape, is divided in three sections, and is usually softer. Other variations include bolillos made of alternate ingredients such as whole wheat, wheat germ or flax.

Names

The bolillo is a variation of the baguette, and thus often has names in the local language reflecting this. In Yucatán

Yucatán

Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....

 they are known as barras. In Guadalajara

Guadalajara, Jalisco

Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...

 and Sonora

Sonora

Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....

 they are called birotes which are often made with sourdough

Sourdough

Sourdough is a dough containing a Lactobacillus culture, usually in symbiotic combination with yeasts. It is one of two principal means of biological leavening in bread baking, along with the use of cultivated forms of yeast . It is of particular importance in baking rye-based breads, where yeast...

. In northern Mexico they're known both as bolillos and pan blanco, whereas in Northeast Mexico it is known as pan francés. In Sinaloa

Sinaloa

Sinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....

, they are called torcido and birote. In Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, a similar bread is made and known as pão francês or pão de sal.

Slang

Bolillo is a slang

Slang

Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...

 term used in some parts of Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 to refer to Anglos (Caucasian

White people

White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

), due to the white interior of the bread. The usage is similar to the word Gringo

Gringo

Gringo is a slang Spanish and Portuguese word used in Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries in Latin America, to denote foreigners, often from the United States. The term can be applied to someone who is actually a foreigner, or it can denote a strong association or assimilation into...

 or Gabacho

Gabacho

Gabacho is a word used in the Spanish language to describe foreigners of different origins:* In Spain, it is used as a pejorative for French people. It comes from Occitan gavach...

, but it is usually a pejorative slur, referring to the individual(s) as "white bread" - one who is culturally unaware.