The Pastry War: Half-baked diplomacy
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What sparked the Pastry War and why did a baker’s complaint matter?
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Something delicious is staring at you, standing in rows behind glass, looking up at you, just saying, choose me, choose me. And so you stare at these pastries, they're on display in the store. You approach the counter, you are ready to order. And just then, soldiers burst into the shop.
These are just mercenary basically. They rioted in Mexico City and they wreck the pastry shop. They go in, they take the pastries without paying. Then it's like take what you want, do what you want.
The shop is now in full chaos, and the owner is understandably yeah, he he's not happy. You see, this is a French-owned patisserie in Mexico City, in the years following Mexico's independence from Spain.
Mexico are in a mess. They have suffered conditions of political upheaval, civil war, changes in leadership. They cannot be dealing with some petty little man that's had his cake stolen. That's how they see it. This is the
least of our worries.
However, this petty little man's looted cake shop becomes a thorn in Mexico's side, a thorn that would end up leading to a war.
We've got three thousand French troops entering the city under the cover of this thick dawn fog. France is a power to be reckoned with. They are out to destroy.
My name is Mark Fennel, and this is the fourth and final instalment in our miniseries, This Stupid War. We've been rifling through history's drawers to find just bizarre conflicts and asking whether they deserve the name they've been given. And in this case, the Pastry War.
A
war over pastries, but I mean it was a lot more than that. It was more than that. But at the time No one saw it coming.
Out of curiosity, what's your favourite pastry?
Oh, now that's a very good question.
I'll put you on the spot now, haven't I?
Um do you know, I'm actually trained as a petit CA. I I'm probably gonna say anything that I didn't have to do in my final exams. But I really I think probably shoe pastries, depending on how
How did the French government use unpaid debts as a pretext for war?
what your heat is in the kitchen. So shoe pastry is you know, I love making shoe pastry. Love baking. But yeah, I love I love pastry. I love all Petitsier work. It's just very creative and great to eat. Um I could um Happily sit and eat pastry all day, really. I've just come back from France. Oh stop it. Stop rubbing
it in.
I know my favourite thing was just being able to walk to a petitsier or boulangerie and just have Eclairs for breakfast and I did.
This lucky woman having what would appear to be the best breakfast in Paris is Seren Charrington Hollands.
I'm a food historian and chef.
And right now we are in the 1800s, the early 1800s in Mexico City, in that pastry shop that we were in. It's owned by a man named Monsieur Remontel. And his shop offers sort of very classic French fair.
Not even a petitsier, more like a blancheret. I think it was very much your classic everyday confectionery shop. I don't think it was high class. It certainly wasn't serving, you know, the high achalance. It was really serving everyday people. I think it was a general
staple stall. Feeding ordinary people at A truly extraordinary time. So in eighteen twenty one, Mexico had really only just won its war of independence from Spain after eleven years of fighting.
They've now got A new Mexico and this is all new. We haven't got the old established laws no longer under Spanish rule. So this is all like a free for all.
Why was it so chaotic after independence out of curiosity?
Well, I think because the Mexican government, they had soldiers, they had all these people, but these were very fickle individuals. They're not necessarily looking after Mexico, they're not even on the same side all the time.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What sparked the Pastry War and why did a baker’s complaint matter?
0:00–3:15
2
How did the French government use unpaid debts as a pretext for war?
3:15–5:43
3
Why did Mexico’s chaotic post‑independence politics fuel the conflict?
5:43–8:24
4
What role did the Mexican‑Texas smuggling route play in the crisis?
8:24–11:42
5
How did Antonio López de Santa Ana become Mexico’s unlikely hero?
11:42–14:50
6
What was the impact of the French naval blockade on Mexico’s economy?
14:50–18:56
7
How did the war finally end and what were the terms of peace?
18:56–22:24
8
What lessons does the Pastry War teach about war motives and propaganda?
22:24–25:42