The grand old sweets of the 1950s
There is something about the past that is truly magical.
Indeed, taste has memory, and the bite I had of palillos, gifted to me by Irma Rivera from Pasteleria Mallorca, brought me back to a time when mom was young and, by habit, diligently filled our kitchen with tasty treats.
It was that first milky bite of paper-thin, crisp pastry with a piped merengue matchstick that prompted me to pay tribute to Pasteleria Mallorca, a bakeshop from the past that continues to bring delight to our palates so many years hence.
It is to Pilar Reyes Gonzalez of Arayat, Pampanga, known as everybody’s “Tita Pilar,” that we owe Mallorca’s old fashioned edible creations. Gonzalez was a hardworking, successful entrepreneur who excelled in the fields of real estate development, banking, and even jewelry.
Of her many pursuits, though, “Her big thing in life was to bake, and she defined herself as a baker,” said her son Toto.
He recounted how his mother sold her baked goods to family and friends. Tita Pilar’s repertoire was traditional and consisted of bakery staples such as chocolate, mocha, butter, chiffon, and flan cakes, brazos de Mercedes, ensaimadas, cinnamon rolls, brownies, panaritas, boat tarts, and the like.
In 1989, Tita Pilar acquired “Dulce Vida” Cakes & Pastries, staffed by the original bakers of the famous Spanish Las Cibeles Pasteleria y Salon de Te.
She took the liberty of renaming it Pasteleria Mallorca Inc. and insisted that everything about it remain the same. The bakers were tasked to continue using the same ingredients and to adhere to the original techniques and methods, for the products to taste exactly as they did in the 1950s when Las Cibeles was at the peak of its popularity.
Beloved treats
The beauty of Pasteleria Mallorca is that it offers more than just the grand old sweets of the ’50s. The bakeshop also continues to produce the beloved cakes and pastries Tita Pilar was known for.
Tita Pilar is the mother of famed chef Gene Gonzalez. She had four children: Gene, Ompong, Toto, and Rocelle.
Brothers Toto, the historian and antiquarian of the family, and lawyer Ompong are the taste testers of Pasteleria Mallorca.
Rocelle, the youngest and only girl of the family, is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the bakeshop.
Rocelle said she and siblings all take turns in helping with the business, with a shared interest to keep the old recipes alive.
“We were astonished to find out that even Spain does not make our cookies anymore, and they (argelianas and palillos de Milan) are not easy to find,” Rocelle said. “Perhaps it’s because they are too time-consuming and hard to make.”
The immediate and quite sudden passing of their mother prompted them to take charge of the Pasteleria. As a tribute to her, they’ve kept baking her specialties and all the recipes she holds dear, in the same manner she would have if she were still in their midst.
Oldies but goodies
My chitchat with Rocelle took a lighter turn. With a chuckle, she shared, “We weren’t fans of mom’s cooking,” their dad Beda included. But they were all left speechless by her baking.
The clients of Mallorca are the true oldies but goodies. “If you tell us you are 60 years old, then you are considered a baby,” she said with a grin. “Our clients are usually 90 years old and young at heart. Since our clients are very discerning and usually love to eat, they are very meticulous and picky about what they want to buy.”
Questions like “Was it made today?”, “When is the expiration?”, and “How do I make sure it travels well?” must all be answered by Mameng or Corazon, the ladies at the counter who are tasked to attend to the shop’s loyal “suki.”
“Most of the time, our clients buy the whole stock and clean us out,” said Rocelle.
These are the patrons who have kept the classics like the custard-filled tarta de Madrid (a staple in our house in my youth), buttery, flaky, sugar-glazed argellanas, agujas de ternera, bocaditos, milhojas, and naranjas (candied oranges) alive for us to enjoy.
“We are thankful to the señoras who take delight in giving their hijos and hijas the pastries they have enjoyed in their youth. If my mom were alive, she would well be in her mid-90s and I would be of the generation that she would bring the baked goods to,” said Rocelle.
I’m celebrating Pasteleria Mallorca here as a way of thanking Tita Pilar and Pastelria Mallorca for bringing me back to a happy time through their baked goods, which I savor with gusto, one bite at a time.
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