Pastry Perfection

Normally as the first hints of spring and summer push through the clouds, my food cravings turn from cool weather comfort foods to fruit, salad and all things fresh. This year, my sweet tooth has appeared out of the cold. One of my earliest family traditions was Sunday donuts, and my grandmother gave me a Chocoholic's Cookbook when I was about 10. I have a special place in my heart for all things pastry but I have never been a candy/icing/soda kind of junk food junky. Last week though, I had root beer with lunch and five Swedish fish on my way to the grocery store. Well technically they were dinosaurs, not fish. Are gummy dinosaurs still Swedish? This is case in point regarding my candy expertise.

However, in my noble undertaking to sample every gelato, Belgian waffle, coffee cake and croissant in Vancouver,  I now have a new love in my life. PappaRoti. It even sounds comforting. Why this cult-status Asian sensation has taken so long to make it to North America is one of the world's new great mysteries.  It has spread from its origins in Malaysia throughout Asia, to Dubai and London. And now, the first PappaRoti in Canada has just opened conveniently down the street from us in Vancouver.

Not quite warm fresh baked bread, not quite buttered biscuit, flaky soft croissant, cinnamon churro or sweet French toast, but somehow all of these at once, the shop sells this one perfected pastry alongside traditional coffee shop espresso and tea drinks. They offer the buns topped with fruit, caramel or chocolate sauces but we opted for the original, splendid in its simplicity, served on a board lightly dusted with powdered sugar and baked with a pat of butter inside.

As I sit watching the rain that bridges the gap between winter and summer, the warm, light pastry sounds like the perfect accompaniment. Even maybe worth a trip to the UAE if you don't in fact live down the street.

Shoot… I'm hungry.