Breads for my daughter

Jennifer Yeh with her daughter Nanda. [Photo by Fan Zhen/for China Daily]

Yeh and her Canadian musician husband arrived in Beijing with their 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter in 2006. Her husband complained that the only breads they could find were topped with garlic, chopped green onion and meat floss, and soon stopped eating bread altogether.

Yeh was caught in a quandary because her daughter Nanda loves bread. A series of food scandals and genuine concern about the safety of ingredients also worried Yeh as a mother.

Two years after they moved to China, Yeh decided to start Boulangerie Nanda.

Now, Yeh regards her bakery as another baby to nurture, instead of just a commercial venture. It is not about making money, she says, but about introducing quality artisanal breads to those who appreciate them.

That is the reason why she imposes very strict requirements on her bakers and her quality control is famous among her staff.

She had tested all kinds of flours on the market and finally found the right type from a small mill run by the farmers themselves. She next kept her assistant bakers working until they got the taste right, without any compromises.

Bakery assistant Zhang Ai-ping says Yeh is very exact.