An e-mail from Danny while in Taiwan
It all started with a phone call about 3 months ago from a friend, who makes pies, asking me if I'd be interested in going to Tokyo to make bread. I said it sounded interesting, so she passed my name to her friend, who passed it along to his friend, who recently became the president of TransAsia Catering Services. An email led to a phone call led to a meeting; their company was diversifying away from the air and high speed train catering business, and was interested in setting up a San Francisco Sourdough Bakery. According to Ray, they had all the resources necessary for the project, but had no idea about making naturally fermented breads. And it wasn't Tokyo, it was Taiwan.
When I arrived, there was a driver waiting to take me from the airport to the hotel. There I met with Ginger, who is leading the project to setup the bakery. She's worked in many restaurants, and has dreams of setting up a Pizzaiolo, where she's worked, in Taiwan as well. We walked all around the neighborhood I'm staying in, and toured other parts of the city as well. At night we checked out one of the busiest Night Markets, where over 100 food vendors setup each night to sell their food on the street. After trying many delicious bites, we were set to call it a night so that I could get some good sleep for my first day of work. But then a few of her friends convinced us that we had to go fishing, as it was a truly Taiwanese experience. I couldn't refuse, so was whisked away to an indoor fishing spot, where people sit around small man made shrimp farms, and catch as many shrimp as they can with chicken liver or their own home brewed bait. We drank beers and chewed on betelnuts, and I caught about 4 shrimp. Things don't end there though; there are grills setup to roast your shrimp, we feasted on our bounty.
The next day I met Ginger to take the bus to Taoyuan, which is where TransAsia Catering Services has their factory. They kept using the word factory, but I was not quite sure what to expect, or what their organization even was. Upon arriving, we switched our shoes for slippers, and went up to the third floor. It was Sunday, so the place was somewhat deserted. The room we arrived at was a small kitchen, with 4 work tables, a few refrigerates, and a handful of computers. The only other person there was Apa, who is the main bread trainee. I had already fed my starter from the hotel, so it was time to mix some dough. With Ginger acting as translator, I went through the process with Apa to mix a few batches, as well as feed the starter and start tracking our work. I was a bit worried about working with someone who was a novice, but it turns out that Apa was already quite comfortable with breads, and extremely inquisitive about all parts of the process.
At lunch time, we opened the door and right next door was our lunch hall. Ginger and Apa were the only people I had seen so far, but in the lunch hall there were about 2 dozen workers, wearing all white protective jackets, full clad in boots, head coverings and masks. We grabbed small plastic trays, and helped ourselves to a buffet of different food items, and soup from a giant cauldron. After lunch, we went back to our room to continue with the breads, and plan the next batches. Finally it was time to bake, and I was setup with gear to enter the factory floor.
To enter, you first have to step into a disinfecting pool with your boots, and wash and sanitize your hands. Then you enter a sealed room for an air shower, before being buzzed into the main room. Inside, there is so much going on it is hard to describe. About 300 people work in the factory, although it was a slow day, so there were perhaps only 100. We were toured around all the different rooms, and I got lost in the maze of equipment. We reached the bakery section, and I was surprised that they already had such a large bakery production going on. With 6 giant spiral mixers, sheeters, dozens of racks, at least a dozen ovens, freezers, proofers, dough cutters, baguette shapers, and hundreds of dough bins, it was a bit much for me to process. Luckily, none of that mattered for the task at hand, and my single oven was preheated and ready for my half dozen breads.
TransAsia Catering Services, which is owned by TransAsia Airlines, which is part of Goldsun, is interested in setting up a bakery modeled after the breads in San Francisco. They have already secured a lease for a small restaurant, and are completely remodeling, equipping, and hiring a staff to get started. I'm helping to make sure they can actually make the breads. My first job so far was to get them some starter. Next, I played with some of their available flours, and chose the one I found most suitable. Now I am testing different starter feeding schedules and formulas for breads. I was happy with the initial results, although there is much more baking that will be necessary to get the product right. Main issue right now is that the breads are too sour, but I'm confident that we will be able to move past that in several batches. Once we are happy with the breads, next up will be making sure that they can produce them on their own. So far I am very impressed with Apa; he is always around and available to work on any thing I am doing, takes so many notes, and meanwhile is also a manager for much of their regular production of breads and pastries.
Since the first day, we now done many more batches, and are working to stabilize the starter. I managed to get some bagels in for Bagel Monday, and am supposed to have 8 different bread types before I leave. We've picked out ovens, a retarder/proofer, and other small equipment that will be necessary for regular production. Today we toured a few of the other bakeries around town. Just down the street from the factory, there is TransAsia Bakery, which carries many different breads; it was insanely crowded with people loading up trays full of bread. Lalos, which in the basement of Taipei 101, the 2nd tallest building of the world, had the highest quality breads I've seen so far; they've got a fancy Bongard oven, and make french inspired breads and unique flavor combinations. The other bakery we visited, Paul, has their dough shipped from France, and charges insane prices for their bread, but I was not particularly impressed with their bread.
I am only a few days into the work here, but it already feels like so much time has passed. There is a tight timeline for all of this, so I'm not particularly interested in doing much other than bake while I am here. In just two weeks, I'll be back in SF, and excited to get back into my core work. I had never left our operation for this long, and before leaving, we hired an additional delivery driver to help out. I was very nervous about what would happen with Sour Flour while I was away, as it is difficult for me to be of much use from 15 hours away. However, I have to say that even though we've had hiccups and bumps, I am proud that my team has been able to manage in my absence. Although it's great working on this project, it makes me that much more excited to jump back into all things Sour Flour, and develop our company and bread.
Things here are both exciting and overwhelming, although I feel confident that I am capable of handling the task at hand. It is still a bit mind boggling to me that I managed to get myself into this project, but I do know how to make the breads they are looking to have, and I also know how to train others. The main question is whether there will be enough time.
So I'm off to sleep for now, so I can get up tomorrow and bake more bread.
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