Just above the bin of bolillos at Comercial Mexicana lie the baguettes, fragrant bayonets of bread with crispy crusts. At just $8 pesos each, this bread goes fast — especially on weekends because only 56 are baked each day in each of the two stores in Puerto Vallarta.

According to Carmen, manager of the panaderia, or bread department, in the Marina Vallarta store, the wonderful loaves are baked right on the premises according to a special recipe that involves letting the dough rise longer than for other breads, and they’re on the shelf about 9 am each day. But better buy two, because it’s very hard to resist a few nibbles on the way home.

The baguette supposedly got its name from the French word meaning “bar” or “little rod,” but it is a descendant of a bread developed in Vienna in the mid-19th century when steam ovens were first brought into use, making possible the crunchy crust and porous white interior that still distinguish the modern baguette.