So by now I’m sure you’all have heard of La concha burger, where a concha (Mexican sweet bread) takes the place of the bun.  Honestly, the first thing that popped in my head were two of my tias, one of them, to this day refers to your panocha as la concha. “Mija, cuidate mucho la conchita” she would say.  Any opportunity she had to call out your concha, she would, but always with a mysterious whisper as if she was telling us a secret. “Don’t show anyone your concha.”  I called her, and asked  if  she wanted to try the burger with me, but she was quick to say “no”. “Have fun eating your panocha burger.” she joked as she hung up.

I also thought of my second tia who  is a very large women (mostly the bottom half). Come to think of it, she kinda looks like a concha herself.  I remember a time she came to visit with a raging cough.  My mother offered her some cough medicine and my tia looked over at her with crazy ojos as if she had just been offered mota , “Estas loca, esas cosas tienien mucha asucar!” My mother looked over at me and sarcastically moaned, “MmmmHmmm”.  My tia explained that her “doctor” (curandero) put her on a strict diet and that taking cough medicine could make her gain weight.  It was comical, just like the people who order a cheeseburger with fries and a diet coke…what the fuck is the point?

Right at that moment, my tio walks in carrying a bag of fresh conchas from a local panaderia. The smell alone made me gain two pounds that went straight to my ass.  My mother quickly got up and made some cafesito, and served them up on the table where we were all sitting.  I could remember my tia’s short sausage like fingers, with half chewed red polished fingernails, pinching over one concha after another towards her to eat.  With her bottle cap black glasses half way down her nose and with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen, she uttered, “Aye que cosa tan especial”.  She would repeat those same words each time she went in for another.  Four conchas later, she magically forgot all about her cough, her diet, and  all the sugar she was not supposed to have. “Y la dieta, comrade?” my mom asked her. “Que dieta ‘jita, si es puro pan.” We all laughed very loudly as my tio yelled,  “Chingate otro!”

In honor of my two tias,  I  tried this beautiful Pan-Concha burger and  surprisingly, it is very tasty but also very sweet. The bacon is a good addition but I would have preferred a side of fries rather than the duros.   I feel like the concha burger alone screams “Hola, soy latino!”…. I mean, I get it, its a latin twist to an all American dish, but I don’t need the  Mexican wagon wheel duros, to  make it that much more obvious.  Although, with or without the fries,  I would definitely eat it again and recommend it to all my concha lovers (I do mean the sweet bread) – and you never know, it may even cure your cough.  As I look down at an  almost empty plate, I take my last bite……”Aye que cosa tan especial!!”

Go try the Concha for yourselves, La Concha burger is available at The Old Main Assoc. Restaurant,  in San Antonio, tx