Nashua’s La Mexicana Bakery has been baking non-stop this month. Owner Socorro Gonzalez makes batches and batches of pan de muerto, a popular offering for family ofrendas or altars.

“It has to be exactly what the recipe calls for,” she said. “It’s not like in the kitchen. It’s not like making soup.”

People in Mexico and Central America celebrate Día de los Muertos on November 1st and 2nd. The days are an opportunity for families to honor their deceased loved ones with offerings of bread, altars and flowers.

Gonzalez comes from a family of bakers. She learned how to bake bread from her father. He spent 62 years as a baker at the same shop in Reynosa, Mexico, in the northern state of Tamaulipas. Even though she inherited her baking talent from him, she said each baker adds their own unique touch.

La Mexicana has its own secret recipe for pan de muerto and each region of Mexico has its own variation. Sourdough wheat bread is not native to Mexico, and Gonzalez follows the pan de muerto tradition as it is known today back to the Spanish conquest.

“It didn’t look like it was showing now. It looked like a heart and was painted red,” she explained. “So instead of killing someone or sacrificing someone for the gods, they used to just give a piece of bread.”

La Mexicana has been in the community for nearly 20 years, but has been under Gonzalez’s management for the past year.

After Day of the Dead is over, they will continue to sell Mexican food and spices, as well as crunchy bolillo rolls and freshly baked sweet conchas.