Latest news with #bakeries
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Don't Ask For A Cronut At Dominique Ansel's New Pastry Shop
Dominque Ansel at his new bakery, Papa d'Amour in Greenwich Village, where you can't buy a cronut ... More but have plenty of other options. Don't even think about ordering a cronut at pastry chef's Dominique Ansel's new bakery Papa d'Amour located in the heart of Greenwich Village on University Place. It opened on May 22, 2025, after Ansel made quite the name for himself at his eponymous bakery on Spring Street in SoHo that debuted in 2013. There he launched his cronut that merged the croissant with the donut and became quite a media sensation. But at the new bakery, no cronuts for sale. At Papa d'Amour, Ansel is going off in a new direction, and therefore decided he wanted no vestiges of his past creations to intrude. He describes this new concept as 'a fusion between French pastries and Asian bread culture.' Time magazine, for example, called cronuts one of the 25 best inventions of 2013. But he made only 250 of them a day, causing people to line up on the street an hour before it opened, and then selling out. Ansel explains that making only 250 cronuts daily wasn't a marketing ploy, but that his kitchen in the back was tiny and that was all he could produce. Besides his new bakery and the original one, he also oversees the Dominique Ansel Workshop on East 27th Street specializing in French-style bread called viennoisserie and a production facility for the two other bakeries, so it's now 3 bakeries he operates. Hence, he's developed a host of new pastries and sandwiches, combining his classical French training with some Taiwanese flavors, influenced by his wife, who is from Taiwan. In the back, there are a dozen chefs baking. Why so many? Ansel replies that he needs that many chefs for the 'quality and diversity and we need trained chefs to do it. Everything is made by hand.' A New Direction for Ansel It's also an homage to New York City where people of so many diverse cultures co-exist. At home he and his wife and their two children speak French, Chinese and English, and his new bakery connects with all 3 cultures. 'Everything on the menu,' Ansel explains, 'is brand new--no repeats from two other shops.' One of his favorites is its mochi donut, made with a special taro butter that fries up into a super light, lacy shell. No Financial Assistant Required Because Ansel's SoHo location has done so well, he was able to self-capitalize his new bakery, without any financial partners or investors. 'I believe in ownership and keeping things small. It allows us to focus our creativity and the things that matter most,' he asserts. Even Ansel Had His Setbacks But even well-praised Ansel has had his ups and downs. While his Spring Street bakery still thrives, his Seventh Avenue/Charles Street bakery and upstairs workshop in the heart of the West Village closed in July 2020, a victim of Covid. At his new bakery, he's also selling 4 sandwiches including crispy shrimp sandwich made with aoli, egg and tomato (its most popular), and a pork sandwich with cabbage and dressing. The new shop has 20 seats and is open Monday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. And it hasn't taken long for it to catch on. When this reporter stopped by unannounced on a Sunday about noon, he encountered a line of about 30 people. A bakery staffer was handing out free cups of espressos to lighten the pain of waiting on line. Why open on University Place? Ansel calls it a quintessential Greenwich Village neighborhood and noted that 'neighbors, residents, other business owners have come by to say hello and welcome us.' It's also located not far from New York University, the New School, Cardozo Law School so it attracts plenty of students. Go Early or Leave Disappointed Asked if people are ordering the sandwiches at dinner time, Ansel admits that most days, despite the dozen bakers, they've been selling out of most things by 3 p.m. 'We're having a hard time keeping up, but we want to focus on quality,' not speed, he says. He expects to start building up production so sandwiches will be available later. Asked if there is a fourth bakery in the works, Ansel laughs, and then says, he's gotten requests from private equity people to expand the number of his bakeries, but so far has resisted. 'It's not about the numbers; it's about the product and controlling what you make,' he asserts. Ansel calls the keys to his new bakery's success as: 1) Creativity of product, 2) Maintaining the quality, 3) Being close to guests and staff, 4) Be attentive to listening. One last thing, Ansel advises that the next time this reporter stops by Papa d'Amour, he try the egg tart and mochi donut, which he says, is flavorful and chewy. ' You'll be heavier on happiness,' he says, if not the scale.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Mystery Explained: Why Hot Dogs Come in 10-Packs but Buns in 8
Have you ever bought hot dogs and buns for a cookout, only to realize you're either two buns short or two wieners over? You'd think that, by now, the makers of America's favorite ballpark snack would have solved this weird puzzle. Think again. Now, this might sound like a silly conversation to have at a time when many folks are facing much more prescient problems. And you're right—but hear me out because sometimes solving little mysteries gives us the courage to solve the bigger ones. Baby steps. Come with me on this curious and historic journey to find out why we can't get our hot dog to bun ratio sorted. Before about 1940, hot dogs were bought and sold from local butcher shops and were not packaged as they are today. Shoppers would simply ask the butcher for the amount of sausages they needed and would be charged by the pound. This brings us up to modern day meat packaging, wherein meat is still typically sold by the pound. One standard American hot dog is approximately 1.6 ounces. If you do the math, that means that it takes 10 hotdogs to get you to one pound. It simply makes sense, from a meat-packing and butchering perspective, to sell them by the pound, not by the piece. Similarly, modern bakehouses are optimized for efficiency with standards and systems set firmly in place. Buns are typically baked in clusters of four in pans designed to produce eight rolls apiece. It simply doesn't make sense for most bakeries to completely upend their production systems and pan designs to accommodate the average number of hot dogs in a pack. The light at the end of the tunnel: In 2022, Heinz and Wonder Bread partnered to solve this very issue in Canada by brokering a partnership to create 10-packs of buns. Maybe a similar deal is on the horizon for the United States. In the meantime, though, we Americans will just have to find a use for those two extra sausages. My suggestion? Cut those suckers up and make a small batch of pigs in blankets for brunch the next day. Everybody wins! Read the original article on ALLRECIPES
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Mystery Explained: Why Hot Dogs Come in 10-Packs but Buns in 8
Have you ever bought hot dogs and buns for a cookout, only to realize you're either two buns short or two wieners over? You'd think that, by now, the makers of America's favorite ballpark snack would have solved this weird puzzle. Think again. Now, this might sound like a silly conversation to have at a time when many folks are facing much more prescient problems. And you're right—but hear me out because sometimes solving little mysteries gives us the courage to solve the bigger ones. Baby steps. Come with me on this curious and historic journey to find out why we can't get our hot dog to bun ratio sorted. Before about 1940, hot dogs were bought and sold from local butcher shops and were not packaged as they are today. Shoppers would simply ask the butcher for the amount of sausages they needed and would be charged by the pound. This brings us up to modern day meat packaging, wherein meat is still typically sold by the pound. One standard American hot dog is approximately 1.6 ounces. If you do the math, that means that it takes 10 hotdogs to get you to one pound. It simply makes sense, from a meat-packing and butchering perspective, to sell them by the pound, not by the piece. Similarly, modern bakehouses are optimized for efficiency with standards and systems set firmly in place. Buns are typically baked in clusters of four in pans designed to produce eight rolls apiece. It simply doesn't make sense for most bakeries to completely upend their production systems and pan designs to accommodate the average number of hot dogs in a pack. The light at the end of the tunnel: In 2022, Heinz and Wonder Bread partnered to solve this very issue in Canada by brokering a partnership to create 10-packs of buns. Maybe a similar deal is on the horizon for the United States. In the meantime, though, we Americans will just have to find a use for those two extra sausages. My suggestion? Cut those suckers up and make a small batch of pigs in blankets for brunch the next day. Everybody wins! Read the original article on ALLRECIPES
Al Jazeera
24-05-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
Cooking in Gaza is now a toxic affair
In Gaza, we have sounds of fear and anxiety. We know them all too well: the hum of spy drones overhead, ambulances screaming through narrow streets, the roar of military aircraft, the thunder of bombings, the cries of people trapped under rubble and now a new sound: the sharp clinking of empty gas cylinders. We used to know well the tiny click of a gas stove burner starting – that small spark at the start of a day that meant a hot meal or a cup of tea was coming. Now, that sound is gone, replaced by the hollow clang of emptiness. We used our last drop of cooking gas in the middle of Ramadan. Like all other families in Gaza, we turned to firewood. I remember my mother saying, 'From today, we cannot even make a cup of tea for suhoor.' That is because starting a fire, having even a flicker of light at night could attract a drone or a quadcopter, resulting in an air strike or a barrage of bullets. We don't know why light at night is targeted, but we know we don't have the right to ask. So we ate cold food for suhoor and saved the fire for iftar. After bakeries shut down due to the gas shortage last month, reliance on fire increased – not just for our family but for everyone. Many people built makeshift clay ovens or fires in alleyways or between tents to bake loaves of bread. Thick, black smoke hangs heavy in the air – not the smoke of death from missiles, but the smoke of life that kills us slowly. Each morning, we wake up coughing – not a passing cough, but a deep, persistent, choking cough that rattles through our chests. Then, my brother and I walk to the edge of our neighbourhood, where a man sells wood from the back of a cart. He gathers it from bombed-out buildings, fallen trees, broken furniture, and the ruins of homes and schools. We carry back whatever our weak bodies can and move on to the next suffering: burning the wood. This is not easy. It demands hours of chopping and breaking wood and breathing in dust. Our father, despite suffering from shortness of breath, insists on helping. This stubbornness of his has become the source of daily arguments, especially between him and my brother. As we light the fire, our eyes turn red because of the smoke, our throats sting. The coughing intensifies. Firewood has become incredibly expensive. Before the war, we would pay a dollar for eight kilos, but now you can buy only one kilo – or even less – for that price. Impoverishment has forced many people to chop down their own trees. The greenery in our neighbourhood has all but disappeared. Many of our neighbours have started cutting down the trees they grew in their yards. Even we have begun using branches from our olive tree – the same tree we never dared touch when we were young, afraid that disturbing it would cause the blossoms to fall and yield fewer olives. Families who have no trees to chop have turned to burning plastic, rubber and trash – anything that will catch fire. But burning these materials releases toxic fumes, poisoning the air they breathe and seeping into the food they cook. The taste of plastic clings to every bite, turning each meal into a health risk. Constant exposure to this smoke can cause severe respiratory distress and chronic illnesses and even lead to life-threatening diseases such as cancer. Yet, what choice do people have? Without fire, there is no food. There is something deeply cruel about the transformation of the kitchen – from a symbol of family and hospitality into a toxic zone. The fire that once meant warmth now burns our lungs and eyes. The meals cooked can hardly be called that: soup from lentils; bread from infested flour or flour mixed with sand. The joy of preparing food has been replaced by fear, pain and exhaustion. This lack of cooking gas has done more than cripple our access to food – it has dismantled the rituals that hold families together. Meals are no longer a time to gather and enjoy family time but a time to endure. A time to cough. A time to pray that today's fire does not make someone too sick. If a bomb does not kill us, we face a slower death: quiet, toxic and just as cruel. This is Gaza today. A place where survival means inhaling poison just to have a cup of tea in the morning. A place where firewood has become more valuable than gold. A place where even the simple act of eating has been weaponised. And yet, we burn. We cough. We keep going. What other choice do we have? The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
Associated Press
23-05-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Gaza on the Brink: Action Against Hunger Races To Prevent Child Malnutrition
Published by Action Against Hunger. May 22, 2025 While the influx of flour has allowed some bakeries to reopen in southern Gaza—an important step towards curbing malnutrition among children and pregnant and lactating women—stocks of nutritional food for children under five are close to running out. Action Against Hunger's stock of ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF) will run out in less than a week in the south and in about 10 days in the north. The sanitary situation is also critical: the entry of chlorine to make water drinkable remains unauthorized. In addition, the lack of gas and electricity cuts prevent cooking; a 1kg gas cylinder costs $200, an unaffordable price. Nevertheless, Action Against Hunger teams continue to operate on the ground. 'Our colleagues in Gaza are going through the same daily difficulties as the rest of the population, but they still insist on continuing their activities every day.' Saving the lives of people in Gaza has become a race against time. 'Currently, only six days have been authorized for the entry of trucks with humanitarian aid, without allowing NGOs to load essential supplies,' says Action Against Hunger's head of Middle East operations, Natalia Anguera, who continues: 'Flour has come in and some bakeries in the south have resumed operations, which is a vital step forward in combating malnutrition among children and pregnant or breastfeeding women, but specific nutritional supplies reserves for children under five are about to run out in the same area.' Even if bakeries now have flour, the lack of fuel, energy, and safe water supplies prevents these facilities from being fully operational. Our teams on the ground report that there are less than seven days' supply of therapeutic food, essential to prevent acute malnutrition in children aged 6 months to 5 years, in southern Gaza and 10 days in the north. There is still a lack of gas and continuous power cuts. Families can barely cook, except by burning leftovers in the streets, and a 1kg canister of gas costs $200, a price that is completely unaffordable for any family. The entry of chlorine for water purification remains unauthorized. Our water trucking is critically dependent on the availability of petrol, which is also in short supply. How We Are Working to Save Children's Lives in Gaza The latest UN analysis, in which Action Against Hunger is involved, is stark: 71,000 cases of acute malnutrition are expected among children under five, of whom 14,100 could die if they do not receive urgent assistance. In the face of this unprecedented humanitarian emergency, our teams on the ground are pouring all available resources into protecting children and their mothers. The urgency is paramount. As one of our breastfeeding counsellors in Gaza tells us: 'Every visit confirms my worst fears: there is no end to this crisis. The situation is becoming increasingly catastrophic, and the acute shortage of aid and assistance is becoming more and more alarming'. At Action Against Hunger, we are developing essential programmes to prevent and treat malnutrition. We distribute nutritional supplements to children aged 6–59 months, as well as pregnant and lactating women, to strengthen their health before malnutrition sets in. We provide specific care for those who already suffer malnutrition, tailoring treatments to individual needs. For babies aged 6–23 months, we provide safe and appropriate complementary foods, essential for their development in an environment where there are few viable alternatives. Early detection is key: we assess children and women by measuring their arm circumference, a simple but vital technique for early action. We also implement our specific programme for pregnant or breastfeeding women who are already suffering from malnutrition, offering a nutritional reinforcement adapted to their needs. In addition, we care for and treat children who are acutely malnourished, both severely and moderately.
