Taipei has the highest concentration of bakeries in Taiwan, with everything from the old-time flavors of Taiwanese-style breads to the modern European-style breads now in vogue. The inspiration of much food for thought, they are the source of countless memories and stories for people. The taste of Taipei bread is the taste of happiness.
Taiwanese-Style Breads – The Flavors of Childhood
I remember the bakery on the corner of my street when I was growing up. Each time I passed by the rich aromas would draw me in, and I would beg my mom to buy something to bring home. These unforgettable oldtime flavors are not just an experience for the taste buds, but also capture the taste of childhood itself, all the little bits and vignettes that make up the mosaic of life. This best explains the ongoing popularity of traditional Taiwanese-style breads.
According to the director of the Taipei Bakery Association (台北市糕餅商業同業公會), Wu Kuan-Te (吳官德), Taiwanese-style breads have a 70 to 80-year history. Pineapple (the top resembling a pineapple; no actual pineapple used), adzuki-bean, chopped green onion, and pork-floss breads can be called the iconic “four heavenly kings” (四大天王). His personal favorite is pineapple bread, which evokes memories of his childhood. And even though times have changed, at traditional bakeries the sales of pineapple bread invariably rank first.
The popularity of Taiwanese-style breads, from Wu’s analysis, is built on the soft texture and diversity of shapes and flavors. Savory or sweet await for the choosing, the fillings are, indeed, most filling. Each bread purchase is a multi-textured journey.
In Wu’s opinion,“For Taiwan baking masters, learning how to make Taiwanese-style breads is a must.” The keys are good taste, quality ingredients, and freshness. The different levels of baker “artistry” result in clear variation. In March this year the Taipei Bakery Association and Taipei City Government Department of Information and Tourism jointly staged the Taipei Breadology Competition (台北麵包學大賽). Participants sought to distinguish themselves through innovative design, giving people something very different from their past experiences of Taiwanese-style breads.
Traditional Good Tastes – Splendid Transformation
The winner in the “Nostalgic Taiwan Breads Category” (懷舊台式麵包組) at the inaugural Taipei Breadology Competition was master baker Chen Chien-wen (陳建文) of Semeur (聖娜), who has been in he baking business for 15 years. Evidence of his dedication to the trade is demonstrated by the fact that he returned to work after just one month’s rest following a warning from his doctor that artificial cartilage may have to be inserted to treat an arm injury caused by too much dough kneading.
The inspiration for the award-winning entry, “Volcano Floss” (火山肉鬆), was Mount Fuji, which Chen visited while touring Japan with his wife. Foregoing the usual long shape of traditional pork-floss bread, both the inside and outside brim with pork floss, like a volcano erupting. Chen engaged in repeated experimentation to create his “Pulsing Heart” (膨然心動) pineapple bread, discovering that the slightly sour taste of dried Dahu (大湖) strawberries goes well with pineapple bread, referencing the external shape of an éclair and decorating the surface with sugar flowers – a treat brimming with happiness.
The runner-up was master baker Huang Hsuan-ming (黃宣銘), from Chirle Brown (查理布朗), who expressed gratitude to Chirle Brown’s Master Cai (蔡師傅) and Master Yang (楊師傅) for their guidance, enabling him to enter the competition after three-plus years of bread-making studies under them. His mother loves pumpkin, so he did some special research and came up with his “Pumpkin Pineapple Bread” (南瓜菠蘿麵包), which received much praise. During his research, he at first tried to knead the pumpkin into the dough, or add it to the crust. But the texture ended up being too hard. The final solution was to marinate the pumpkin for a day, softening it, then placing it on the bread’s exterior. Looking like a flower in bloom, the bread is pleasing to both the palate and the eye. The method used to make “Fish Floss Bread” (魚鬆餜子) is also quite innovative. Huang has a real fondness for fantuan (飯糰), a type of sticky-rice roll, and experimented replacing the usual pork floss with crispier fish floss as an ingredient. A small amount of youtiao (油條), a type of deepfried dough stick, is also found in the bread, for additional flavor. The concept behind the striking “Plum-Orchid- Bamboo-Chrysanthemum” (梅蘭竹菊) sandwich quartet is the four items in the title, known collectively as the embodiment of traditional Chinese virtues. The representative sandwich fillings are plum-blossom meat, blueberry jam, bamboo-shoot salad, and baked potato, accompanied by fruits and vegetables. Their refreshing combination was key in this entry’s bestowal of an award.
European-Style Breads –Dense and Aromatic
In days past, Taiwanese-style and Japanese-style breads dominated. Today, the bulk of sales still go to local-style breads, but since master baker Wu Pao-Chun (吳寶春) won gold at the World Cup of Baking, European-style breads have produced a strong following. There are three basic categories for local European-style breads: classical, healthy, and soft. Wu Kuan-Te says that for Westerners bread is a staple food, much in the same way as rice is in Taiwan, meant to accompany cooked dishes and soups, and thus flavor additions are not much needed, in order to avoid dominating the accompanying food.
Hence, classical offerings are dense, dry, and hard in texture, without fillings. At most, a sprinkle of nuts or dried fruit is added. Fancy adornment or transformation is rare. For healthy offerings, there is even greater simplicity and purity, with hardly any oils or sugar used. However, Taiwan consumers are used to eating bread on its own, and soft offerings targeting national palates have been rolled out, with softer texture and greater variety of flavor additives.
The methods of preparation are completely different for Taiwanese and European breads. Wu says that sugar and oils are added to Taiwanese- style breads, to make the dough soft. European-style breads are a yeast powder/salt/wheat _our combination, so that when eating French bread, for example, the primary taste is of wheat. For Taiwanese-style breads, different tastes and textures are pursued via filling and dough variation.
Currently, the most popular European bread is the French baguette, which has a crispy crust and soft center, great for dipping in butter or olive oil. Next are whole-wheat breads, especially rolls and buns. However, since genuine European breads can be a little coarse and monotonous when eaten without accompaniment, local Taiwan bakers have made “improvements” to make them easier to eat and to better match local palates, without losing their European character.
Fusing East and West – Creative Trendiness
In the Taipei Breadology Competition’s “Fashionable European-style Breads Category” (時尚歐式麵包組), the winner was Qiu Junyi (邱俊一), head chef at Saint Paul (聖保羅烘焙花園). Qiu started apprenticeship studies at a bakery right a_er graduating from junior high school. And even though he now has 20 years of experience under his belt, he prepared studiously for the baking competition, going to equipment manufacturers on days off to borrow equipment and baking spaces matching those specified for the contest. He took “mock exams” about 10 times to ensure he could complete all tasks within the allotted time.
Qiu’s winning work, the “Orange Fragrance Cheese Croissant” (橙香乳酪可頌), featured extensive use of local Taiwan ingredients. He added fresh honey-candied orange to the cheese, creating an irresistibly flavorful duo. For his “Cheese Bread” (乳酪麵包), he partnered dried roselle with two types of cheese, creating a light and refreshing treat with pleasant savory/sweet contrast. Qiu paired local dried honey peach with California raisins in his “Dried Fruit and Multigrain Bread” (果乾雜糧麵包), the double-fruit concerto adding lyrical fruity fragrance to the dough.
The runner-up was master baker Hong Congxian (洪聰賢), from Tokyo Gateaux (東京時尚烘焙坊). Dropping out after his first year of senior high school, he devoted himself to the study of baking, and at 21 years of age opened his own business. Entering the competition at the urging of a friend, he not only sought advice from the national champion in the last City Bread Championship, but made phone calls to senior master bakers to ask their advice as well. Hong says that during the Taipei competition he found the most difficult of the required European-style breads was the croissant. To make the crust crispy and tasty, not only must the malleability of the butter be considered, but also the proper temperature adjustments. As well, during the production process the dough must be cooled and then taken out, or cold-room production can be chosen. He failed the test countless times in preparation, but on the big day crafted a work of perfection.
The inspiration for his “Joan of Arc” (聖女貞德) cheese bread was pizza Margherita. Hong used exclusive fresh tomato in oil, paired with basil, to enhance the taste of the smoked cheese, resulting in rich flavor free of greasiness. In his “Fragrant Heart” (沁心) dried-fruit multigrain bread he discarded the commonly used rose leaf and jasmine leaf in favor of mint leaf paired with an unexpected, counter-intuitive partner, dried Dahu strawberries, in a delicacy exuding cool freshness. Although Hong has been practicing his craft for 15 years, he still sometimes travels north to Taipei from Taichung via High Speed Rail in order to pursue additional studies. His hope is to compete in the “2018 City Bread Championship” (2018年城市麵包大賽) and win the championship for Taiwan.
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