There are twelve of noon of a Thursday beginning of December and in the Plaza Maior the movement is unceasing. From the counter, Frederick Yahbes I swear you don't know how many sweet loaves you sold this morning, not in the month, not in the year. He is manager of the mythical restaurant of Monserrat and, moreover, son of RicardoThe owner.
And the most important data: it is the only man on the face of the earth who knows the recipe of sweet bread that year after year summons multitudes.
He is 53 years old and 30 celebrates the success of the manjar that horned his Calabrian grandmother. A success without official numbers, but which is assumed by the tail of the door.
So, with the inflated chest and an eye always put on the voragine of the dishes that come and go, Frederick - who studied cooking, among other things, not to look just “the owner’s son” - shares the story of the sweet bread that costs 820 pesos and is worth a two-hour tail, on average. Everything from Plaza Maior, on the corner of Venezuela and San José, the restaurant that speaks of the most Argentina Giunts: Spanish and Italian.
“In the middle of the 70 my father was dedicated to the plastic industry. Suddenly the costs became unsustainable and bought a pizzeria in Villa Crespo, where we lived. I knew nothing of gastronomy, but to eat well for its Iberian origins. It progressed and in 1982 offered it this place. Although he wasn't close to anything, he bet and bought it. I put a Spanish cook and so began Plaza Mayor", points out Federico, of surname Arabic rooted in the peninsula. But besides, for free remembers the avatars of the ends of the 80. “There was an energy crisis. But people wanted to eat pulp or cazuela and came at 7:00 in the afternoon,” he says.
How did they start selling sweet bread? “As a matter of fact”, he is proud. “We wanted to foment the cider so that it would be taken. My father thought to accompany her with a piece of something and then woke up from the sweet bread that we ate every Christmas. He asked for my grandmother's recipe, we started to produce and invite him after eating. It was in 1985”, He points to Frederick.
Leticia “Tita” Marcone, this grandmother who had arrived from Calabria, cooked every Fin of Year without imagining the furor that would be for the purposes of the 90. He prepared it with the same wisdom and naturality that boast the Italians who love the kitchen when they cut the talharines.
" He was a panetone. But we are a Spanish remnant, so we always call it sweet bread”, He points out Frederico and says that since then they have used the recipe of that grandmother who died ten years ago, when the consecration was already a fact.
"I'm the only one with the recipe. You don't even know my father! It's not written anywhere. He passed from my grandmother to me”, laughs Frederico and tells how he does to perform the bakers - that every year are two and from November are six. “Les doy two bags with the merchandise: one with the powders (harinas and others) and another with the dried fruits and the scorched ones. I mean... Nor does the chief panadeiro know how much he takes from every thing”ufana Yahbes, who studied cuisine and worked in Spain, Chile and Mexico. “I always knew that if I wanted to take charge of the family business, I had to graduate. I update all the time,” he adds.
As he speaks, the sweet bread that Frederick and his three sisters have eaten since their childhood is appreciated, bright and careful, on the dials of Plaza Mayor. Some are already emboldened with the colors of Motherland.
“We made the model under the middle sphere because so did my grandmother... It doesn't take any more for the amount of merchandise we put on it. That's the fair point. If I had more yeast, I'd disgrace and not be so delicious. In addition, we work with butter: give it a special texture”, counts in confidence and details that the process begins every day at 6 a.m. and that each takes four hours to be ready.
How much does the quality of the raw material influence? Very, according to Frederico. “This year we had an important problem with the dried fruits because they are sold at dollar price. On Friday before the PASO I bought almonds at 480 pesos the kilo. Now it's 750. The same with the nuts: they went from 370 to 550”, reveals and details that works with many producers from the country's interior.
It says that the raisins of grapes are from La Rioja and Catamarca; the walnuts of Mendoza - “are the ones I like most” -; the cajú “es brazilian, because here there is no”; and the almonds are also mendocinas, but there are Chilean and American varieties. However, the dark fruit (“he says Aprillantada, but in fact it is dark because it has almíbar and not glaseado”) is Corrientes mamón, while the cherry is mendocina and the hygos, jujeños.
" Plaza Maior bakery makes sweet bread every year, because people buy it all year. At this time many customers know they can freeze and so they anticipate. The satas of the freezer one day before and gets exactly the same”, reveals Frederick and excites himself with an unprecedented recommendation: “After the roast, clean a little the barbecue, put a slice of sweet bread to toast a few minutes and serve it with a cream or sambayão ice cream shell”.
The first time you saw a line of people at the Plaza Mayor door. “I didn’t understand anything. I called my father to tell him: ‘They are queuing to buy the sweet bread’,” he says. His father came to reason with a single question: “How many have you sold?”. “I have no idea. I didn’t tell them,” replied, I blamed, while I promised to do so the next day. “No, leave. Never tell them. Never again! Nor does it happen to you”, Richard concluded and installed the Cabal not to take the record.
“I blind the eye shopping. I've been doing it for 30 years," says the manager and adds that they never advertised. That people know that the sweet bread of Greater Square is rich by mouth to mouth.
“One lap we had four blocks of tail because the previous day had ended us. The average is two blocks a day. He arrives in Belgrano for Venezuela. This week we deliver several per person, but in the days before Christmas we restrict: only one per client”, says Frederico about The delight that is sold from 9 to 11 in the morning and from 5 to 7 in the afternoon, although a little may spread.
And when the clock marks one of noon, it reflects: “Doing something rich does you good to ego. But to do it in family, much more! This is our secret condition.”
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