patrick_y
[PuristSPro Moderator]
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Wu Pao Chun, Famous Bread In Taiwan; Is It Worth The Hype?
Patrick_y visits Taipei and tries out a few of famous eateries. Seven days and about three kilograms later, Patrick shares his experiences of the popular eateries in Taipei and sees if they measure up against the hype. The Wu Pao Chun bakery recently came into world acclaim for winning a coveted prize at the Bakery World Cup.
I truly enjoy travel and I truly enjoy eating well while I travel. So it was no coincidence that I would try some of the "hot spots" during a quick visit to Taiwan. One of these hot spots is the Wu Pao Chun bakery in downtown Taipei. It's particularly famous because two of its flagship loaves of bread have won major acclaim at a major international baking competition held in Europe.
Public relations and the media are powerful mediums in Asia. With the popularity of social media, the internet, and smartphones able to spread the word quickly, there was a large amount of hype surrounding Wu Pao Chun. But is the bread really that good? Or is it all hype? We shall find out.
I can't say I make my own bread, but I certainly do consume a large amount of it and have enjoyed consuming it all over the globe. I know most of the different types of bread (ciabatta, focaccia, brioche, etc.) and am familiar with various styles of French bread and San Francisco sourdough French bread. I've traveled fairly extensively through Western Europe, patronized dozens of bakeries and pastry shops while in Europe, and I also have to mention that I've had some great bread during my visits in Japan as well. But this was the first time I had met a bakery that was really adamant that it was making bread in the French style but with a Taiwanese taste. I didn't know quite what to expect...
The bread has a very pleasant taste of softness, this softness is even further realized by the presence of fragrant "puli" rose water. The lychees are an interesting touch that add sweetness and a unique taste; as the brochure mentioned they are soaked in wine. The Californian walnuts are perfectly roasted but not overly toasted and roasted because the baker knows that the bread may be toasted again by the consumer.
Old and new... The Wu Pao Chun bakery is located in this picturesque modern office building above. Which is immediately adjacent to a historic mid-century tobacco factory. The park like grounds are an excellent location to consume your baked goods from Wu Pao Chun. Just skip the almond croissant (not pictured), it's not a traditional almond croissant in any way and it wasn't something I would ever want to try again.
I had to carry four bags of Wu Pao Chun baked goods across town since the bakery didn't deliver. That proved difficult when I had other shopping to do. Three of these bags were each filled with single gigantic loaves of bread.
At around NT$360 (around $10-$11 USD), it's not an inexpensive loaf of bread. But in the US, a loaf of ordinary bread at the supermarket can easily approach $5 in San Francisco and they would be smaller in size anyways. So the $10 is not that exorbitant if you think about it, especially considering the size and weight of this bread. The triangular bread is around 45 cm long at its longest point. They're definitely generous loaves.
At around NT$360 (around $10-$11 USD), it's not an inexpensive loaf of bread. But in the US, a loaf of ordinary bread at the supermarket can easily approach $5 in San Francisco and they would be smaller in size anyways. So the $10 is not that exorbitant if you think about it, especially considering the size and weight of this bread. The triangular bread is around 45 cm long at its longest point. They're definitely generous loaves.
This brochure postcard states the bread won the 2010 Bakery World Cup. However, after researching this, I could not corroborate this fact. Perhaps it's an exaggeration? More to come on this later...
The bread has a very pleasant taste of softness, this softness is even further realized by the presence of fragrant "puli" rose water. The lychees are an interesting touch that add sweetness and a unique taste; as the brochure mentioned they are soaked in wine. The Californian walnuts are perfectly roasted but not overly toasted and roasted because the baker knows that the bread may be toasted again by the consumer.
The density of the bread is excellent, saturation of the nuts and the lychee are plentiful without being overbearing. The rose water is extremely subtle, but does contribute a taste of lightness to the entire bread. The overall taste is very good, modern, and especially unique, but not mind-blowing good. The greatest weakness of the bread is its crust. Traditional breads from France and Germany have relatively firm and robust crusts. Sometimes even some tugging is required to tear the crust. The crust of this Wu Pao Chun bread is soft and easily torn. There is no resistance nor tenacity that the normal breads from France and Germany exhibit. As to reasons why this may be the case, the author hypothesizes that the crust has been adapted to Taiwanese tastes. In general, Taiwan has a relatively humid climate where even the most hard French baguettes aren't quite as hard in Taiwan. Furthermore, many Asian cultures are not accustomed to nor do they like like the crust to be extremely firm. Just a hypothesis...
Overall, a nice bread, one that I'm happy to eat again, I'll remember it, but I won't be craving for it anytime soon.
After some internet research, it appears that this bread won 2nd place at a competition called World Bakery Cup in France in 2008. Not the "winner" in my definition, but a podium finish. The accuracy and precision of this brochure is not very good.
There's a haunting flavor of white wine in this entire bread. It's almost so heavy that it gives the bread an almost smoky taste. Overall, the bread has a very masculine taste with smoked longan fruits and again, perfectly toasted California walnuts. It's probably a tiny bit less dense and drier than the aforementioned bread.
There's a haunting flavor of white wine in this entire bread. It's almost so heavy that it gives the bread an almost smoky taste. Overall, the bread has a very masculine taste with smoked longan fruits and again, perfectly toasted California walnuts. It's probably a tiny bit less dense and drier than the aforementioned bread.
But again, the crust of the bread is so soft that it leaves some firmness to be desired. The flaccid crust is even more noticeable on this bread than on the previous lychee and rosewater version.
They even have special instructions on how to store and toast your bread.
They even have special instructions on how to store and toast your bread.
Old and new... The Wu Pao Chun bakery is located in this picturesque modern office building above. Which is immediately adjacent to a historic mid-century tobacco factory. The park like grounds are an excellent location to consume your baked goods from Wu Pao Chun. Just skip the almond croissant (not pictured), it's not a traditional almond croissant in any way and it wasn't something I would ever want to try again.
All in all, the Wu Pao Chun bakery is good, and an establishment Taiwan should be proud of. It's something that's worth trying if you're in that section of Taipei. You'll be glad you did give it a try, but you'll probably think it's not something you'd be super hyped up about.
Wu Pao Chun, Famous Bread In Taiwan; Is It Worth The Hype?
Patrick_y visits Taipei and tries out a few of famous eateries. Seven days and about three kilograms later, Patrick shares his experiences of the popular eateries in Taipei and sees if they measure up against the hype. The Wu Pao Chun bakery recently came...
Isn't it weird...
that a country, a culture, not associated with bread could win a bread championship? Like when I watch a documentary about wine, Red Obssession, and saw that a wine from China can get an award. Or an American opened a ramen restaurant in Tokyo, and get ac...
If it's good...
You're right. It is strange. Geography is getting less and less important though. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, a large amount of the latest great restaurants are not in San Francisco, but are in Oakland. Oakland is a city that is famous for its cri...
I wonder if...
I wonder if they do like a regular Chinese bao? Interesting that their bakery looks like a office building. -MW
I don't think I noticed...
I don't think I noticed that. Mostly more Western style pastries. There was an almond croissant I bought that was just weird. It had a strangely flavored custard and very little of the crushed almond marzipan-like thing I was looking for. That was not a p...