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A Global Tour of Bakeries With Fascinating Histories
From Slovenian pastries on an island to Bukharan Jewish sweets in Queens, these places work wonders with flour, sugar, and salt.
Baked goods may be infinitely varied across the globe, but many of them carry a powerful cultural resonance that spans generations and continents. From the rich, salted egg–filled mooncakes associated with the Mid-Autumn festival in China to the fire-roasted spitcakes served during Christmas and Easter in Lithuania, recipes for baked goods are often grounded in decades or even centuries of tradition. Among diaspora communities, bakeries often offer a sensory connection to distant lands.
From a Sephardic Jewish bakery in Spain that honors a community all but destroyed by the Spanish Inquisition to a critically acclaimed sourdough bakery launched by a grade-school teacher in his Arizona garage, these are all places with stories to tell.
Editor’s note: This piece originally ran on September 1, 2021. It was updated, with the addition of more restaurants, on August 25, 2023.
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