An Inside Look At A Traditional Galician Bakery

Pictures taken at Bakery Panaderia Mollete Bolleria in Ferrol, Galicia where the owner, Jose’s friend allowed us an exclusive look at how Galician bread is made.


Since the Spanish eat bread with every meal, bread is a big deal for them. At Mollete, bread is prepared by hand (and love) then baked in a wood-fired oven. The bakers arrive at 2am and continuously bake all day. What blew me away is the price of each baguette. One sells for 0.95Euro (about 1 US dollar). Isn’t that crazy? In New Zealand it would be quadruple the price of that. And apparently, even so, the locals still complain that the bread is too expensive. Can you believe that? Anyways, we bought a cod and raisin empanada. BP. B for bacalao (cod) and P for pasa (raisin). C for carne (meat). Typically, Empanadas are eaten cold so we had ours later in the day for lunch. Guys, I am getting fat.



“What must you break apart in order to bring a family close together? Bread, of course.”
― Jodi Picoult
“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight…[Breadmaking is] one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance from some ancient ceremony. It leaves you filled with one of the world’s sweetest smells… there is no chiropractic treatment, no Yoga exercise, no hour of
meditation in a music-throbbing chapel. that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread.” ― Mary Francis Kennedy Fisher



“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.” ― James Beard

“All sorrows are less with bread. ” ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra


“Let it never be said / there can be a Heaven / without fresh bread.” ― Glenn Logan Reitze

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” ― Virginia Woolf



(Can you see the cut empanadas in the back?)



“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” ― Oscar Wilde

I Haven’t Been Everywhere But It’s On My List

Like, literally.

From top to bottom: sore feet from too much adventuring, ALL DAY COFFEE, CITY BAKERY, MOKU MOKU FARM, BROOKLYN COFFEE, Osaka castle and CITY BAKERY again cos dem wholewheat croissants will be the death of me!

Nishiawakura

20 days to go. I am trying my best to make the most of every day, knowing that when I look back on my time here, I’ll only remember the good and miss it. Terribly. Today, I am appreciating Nishiawakura, the village next to mine. Not only is it home to some of my dearest friends in Japan, it is also beautiful and, bursting with raw talent. From Olivier and Hiromi’s bread to Lifa and Akiko’s woodwork to Naho sensei’s pottery to the fresh herbs and vegetables lovingly cultivated by sweet old couples. Of course, Nishiawakura’s talent is not limited to this image for it seems almost every inhabitant there is making and creating in the hope of putting their unique mark on the world.

Thank you, Nishiawakura. I am going to miss you.

Review no34 (I started counting again) Talmary in Chizu

One thing I’ve noticed about Japanese restaurants is that more often, no meal checking is done. In hospitality lingo, meal checking is basically that, checking, after the second or third bite (not too early nor too late) if everything, with the food, is alright. Wait did that rhyme? My Japanese friend reckons this is because, Japanese people are too polite to comment even if they’re unsatisfied. Which is really honorable and all… but, no.

Now, I don’t like/want to be writing bad reviews – as one angry Lower 9th Diner fan/most-likely-employee hate mailed me once: I am not even “certified”.

So, I’mma keep this short cos I don’t want to offend too many people and I don’t want the entire village after me nor to be even more singled out. So , without further ado…

Newly opened Talmary (Chizu) is a beautiful and creatively set out restaurant. It used to be a pre-school which means the majority of the decor centers around little folk, making it salty and original. At the moment, two rooms are in use. They feature comfy couches, packed book cases, a children’s corner, so you can take a break from entertaining your little one (for a while), a log burner and FREE wi-fi. If I weren’t writing this review and so, able to return at some other time, I could totes spend an entire day because the ambience is just that nice. BUT, that, is where my praise stops.

I used to work at an Italian restaurant. And not any restaurant but THE best restaurant in all of NZ. No shit. No bias. Cafe Valentino has the best pizza I have ever tasted and I’ve tasted too many pizzzzas. In other words, I know good pizza. You could even go as far as saying I’m pizza certified. But let’s not. Unfortunately Talmary though, isn’t. Which is a real shame and a true waste because their pizza oven is SO nice (see picture above).

Ah, how I wish I had been meal-checked so that I could have told them, there and then that the dough was RAW (snow white) and clearly needed more time.  And the flavor? Null. Except for perhaps the soy mayonnaise on the first pizza, but like come on, all mayo tastes nice…

*insert sick green emoticon*

And then I was bitten by a centipede

My ankle is the size of Russia. As in, swollen as f$%^. From a centipede bite. Yes, centipede. Thank you, inaka (countryside). To make matters worse, I happen to be staying at a nice hotel, in a busy spot in Okayama city with plenty of foodie places to explore (for a three day teacher’s conference) and, since I can’t WALK I can’t go outside. Alas, things could be worse. My hotel could be one of those 1 in a trillion hotels where there’s no room-service available.. oh wait, it is one of those… !!!

On a good note, today’s lunch at The Market, an organic bakery was Divine (with a capital D). I had a vegetarian sandwich and a soy latte. From across the street at Cotan (the organic food-store sister of Market) I purchased a RAW cacao bar, organic banana and a cold camomile tea drink which I am slowly savouring for dinner now. WHAT HOTEL DOESNT HAVE ROOM SERVICE? Good thing Cotan saved my behind. Anyways, I loved both Market and Cotan. I am so lucky that they’re only 2 min walking distance from my conference hall. In fact, I will be hopping there come lunch-break tomorrow and the next day, if I make it out alive. Please keep my foot in mind! I’m serious, my ankle’s HUGE.

review no31 hugo&leo french bakery

The headline of this piece should really be: Persian breakfasts made possible for Kiwi girl by French baker in rural Japan.

One of Japan’s biggest problems is its lack of brown bread. I’m serious. It’s devastating. That artificial crap (sorry, but it really is) sold at the supermarket must die! This is where Hugo&Leo, the loveliest french bakery (with a legit french baker + yogi!) comes to the rescue. Situated in the serene Nishiawakura Village of Okayama, their delicious bread has been my saviour. So what makes Hugo&Leo so special? Well, apart from the most welcoming owners, their ingredients are simple, locally sourced and where possible, organic. Their tasty menu boasts a variety of breads including wholemeal fig and walnut, rye, walnut and prune and millet corn bread. Are you salivating yet? I’m day dreaming about fig and goat cheese bruschettas to be honest. Anyways… in addition to good bread (and by good I mean spectacular), sweet treats such as croissants, muffins and cakes are also on offer. And if all that ain’t enough to lure you in, be sure to try their vegetarian quiches and pizzettes.

Hugo&Leo operates on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10am-5pm but try to drop by early as they’re super popular! I’m hella lucky that their place is a mere 10 minutes away but if you have to travel a long while to get there, trust me, it’ll  be worth it. Dine in or out (the view is just gorgeous) and make a day of it! X

For more info head to their super informative website here.