Bakery Culture

The baked goods, like all food in Taiwan, are delicious; however, the bakery culture differs significantly from that of Europe or North America. Instead of stopping by the bakery in the morning, people in Taiwan swing by after work in the evening to pick up freshly baked treats to consume the following day. If you come in the morning, there are very few items remaining. When we walk in, we grab a tray and tongs. All signs are in Chinese, so we take a blind guess and wait to discover what is inside of our pastry bounty. As we join the line to pay, we are so busy taking in what everyone else is purchasing, that we forget to get our money ready. The bakery line is an efficient, well-oiled machine. Think Sinfield’s Soup Nazi—only an incredibly kind, patient people working behind the counter while the foreigners hold up their line. They wait as we dig out our change and even congratulate us with a treat as we attempt to say the total in broken Mandarin. Then, the delayed gratification begins as we await the next morning to delight in our pastry acquisitions.