SHERWOOD, Ark. — Inside Mercado El Valle is a grocery store, a restaurant, a butcher shop and a bakery.
“We make all types of pan dulce," Mercado El Valle co-owner Samuel Lopex Moreno said. "Pan dulce is sweet Mexican bread. It's very traditional and we have anything from concha’s to empanadas."
The family business has been in Sherwood for two years now and Lopez Moreno said having a bakery was something important to them.
“It's part of our culture, part of our food," Lopez Moreno said. "That's what we decided to incorporate when we started."
Year-round they sell the traditional breads, but there's one you can only find during this time of year — pan de muerto.
Pan de muerto is a traditional treat during Día de los Muertos.
“It's a day to celebrate our loved ones that passed away," Lopez Moreno said. "What we do in our culture, we have a shrine [where] we usually put the food or the items that people used to love when they were alive."
Moreno said they work to make sure they have the special bread ready for people to celebrate the holiday on Nov. 1-2.
“This one has a little more sugar," Lopez Moreno said. "This right here, these symbolize the bone-like bones for the death."
The process to make this bread is a bit different than the others.
“This one is done in two steps," Lopez Moreno said. "First, we do the base of the bread, and this right here the bones are put separately, and then it's coated with sugar."
Moreno said they're happy to help share this Mexican tradition in Central Arkansas.
“To keep the culture alive and to show the new generations that we have this beautiful tradition," Lopez Moreno said. "Also, for people that really don't know that tradition so they can see."
Thursday night the Central Arkansas Library System and Mexican Consulate of Little Rock will be hosting a Day of the Dead festival at the Ron Robinson. For more information, click here.