bakery – Around the World in 196 Plates

Country 079 – Bolivia (Emporio De Los Sandwiches)

Published on October 7, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 894 Wilson Avenue, North York
Website: None.

Emporio De Los Sandwiches is a delightful little bakery right around the corner from Yorkdale Mall that specializes in empanadas and seriously tasty-looking sweet pastries. I went in intending to only get a couple of empanadas, but the desserts were transfixing. I had a hard time narrowing it down to just a couple; they all looked so good.

Don’t ask me what those desserts are, however; nothing was labeled. I asked the woman behind the counter what they were called — she told me and they were extremely Latin sounding. I felt bad asking her to repeat herself or write it down, so that was that.

I’m not exactly Suresh Doss, in case you haven’t figured that out yet.

I know what the empanadas are, at least! So I’m not completely useless. One was beef, and the other was chorizo (even my feeble brain can recall words such as “beef” and “chorizo”).

They were both good, though the beef was clearly the better of the two. The chorizo was a bit dry and underseasoned; it was fine, especially since the quality of the pastry itself was quite good, but it was pretty average.

The beef, on the other hand, had an assertive flavour and a satisfyingly saucy consistency, featuring chunks of eggs and veggies to spice things up (metaphorically — neither empanada was spicy at all).

The desserts were the same story: one great, one not so much.

The round one was seriously delicious; the pastry was fluffy and doughnut-like, and the creamy custard and sweet dulce de leche went perfectly together.

The square one was odd. It basically tasted like a ridiculously fat square of dry, plain pie crust. It was hard and crunchy and barely sweet at all (I think the sugar on top was the only source of sweetness).

It kinda went over my head. I don’t get the appeal. I’m pretty sure the woman behind the counter mentioned a caramel filling, so I’m going to assume that something was missing.

Country 053 – Malta (Malta Bake Shop)

Published on March 12, 2017 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3256 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.facebook.com/maltabakeshopltd/

Though Malta Bake Shop has a pretty decent selection of Maltese pastries, I think it’s safe to say that pastizzi is their claim to fame (they even sell frozen versions of them to a few dozen supermarkets across the GTA).

They have a few different varieties, but when I went they had two: beef and peas, and cheese.

There’s really not a lot to pastizzi; it’s a diamond-shaped pastry, with the aforementioned fillings wrapped in a delightfully flaky dough.

It’s really the pastry itself that makes this so amazing: it’s crispy, flaky, buttery and perfect. It’s similar to Greek-style phyllo pastry, but it’s done perfectly. It’s the type of pastry perfection that can only be done by people who have been making the same thing for many, many years, and have clearly mastered their craft.

The fillings were tasty as well, though the beef and peas was the superior of the two. The cheese (ricotta) wasn’t bad, but it was a bit underseasoned, and a little eggy for my tastes.

I should also note that these things are ninety cents each, which is insanely cheap for something so delicious.

Country 047 – Portugal (Nova Bakery & Pastry)

Published on December 11, 2016December 3, 2016 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3635 Cawthra Road, Mississauga
Website: http://www.novabakery.ca/

I really like egg tarts — in theory. They’re actually a lot like millefeuille, in that they should be amazing but very rarely are thanks to the ravages of time. That crispy, flaky crust? Maybe I’ve just been exceedingly unlucky in a lifetime of eating egg tarts, but I don’t think I’ve ever had one where the crust wasn’t soggy to a certain extent.

I wanted the one from Nova to be different, but right on the first bite — when I struggled to get my teeth through the once-crispy, now-chewy crust — I knew it was game over.

Still, the custardy filling was satisfying enough to make this worth eating regardless. Amazingly creamy, dense but not too dense, and with a mild lemony zip to cut through the richness, it was probably one of the better egg tarts I’ve had.

I’d be more upset about the sodden crust, but since I’ve literally never had one of these things where the crust was perfect, I’m just going to assume that’s a pipe dream. I’d either have to go to a bakery where they sell so many egg tarts that they’re constantly pumping out new ones (i.e. fly to Portugal), or I’d have to camp outside of a bakery and grab one the minute they open.

I don’t think either option is going to happen any time soon, so soggy crust it is.