Xinhua News Agency, Macau, April 18 (Reporters Li Hanfang, Liu Gang) Yejia Street, located in the inner street of the old city of Macau, is a "hidden" small street for foreign tourists.
Every afternoon, people can easily find "the most fragrant bakery" along the aroma of charcoal roasting.
Founded in 1957, the "Most Fragrant Bakery" is famous for its handmade charcoal-fired almond cookies. Today, there are two stores in Yehe Street, one for making cakes on-site every day, and the other for selling cakes to the outside world.
"Before, my grandfather Li Jiyu made cakes, and my grandmother Li Aizhen carried a pole and walked around the streets to sell it. In the 1970s, when I had some capital, I bought the storefront in Yema Street, which was passed down to my mother and uncle's generation. In 2020, 'Most Fragrance Bakery' won the title of an old shop with special characteristics in Macau. With government funding, we will take over the current store, and the previous store has become a factory." In the "Most Fragrant Bakery" store, the third generation has inherited Tan Siying told reporters.
The products of the "Most Fragrant Cake Home" include: almond cakes, fresh milk walnut cakes, egg yolk meat heart almond cakes, worm cakes, egg rolls, etc.
The characteristics of these cakes are that the entrance is sweet and fragrant, and the cake powder is smooth.
At about 1:00 p.m., the door of the bakery shop opened.
Mung bean powder, sugar, water, and peanut butter are rubbed in proportion, and the masters pour vegetable oil into the hill-like powder raw materials, and mix and shape.
Next, they deftly sprinkled crushed almonds into the mold, and then poured in the powder. After compacting, they tapped lightly, and a row of almond biscuits with the words "most fragrant" were left on the bamboo basket.
On the other side, the master is making the traditional egg yolk and meat heart almond cake. The salted egg yolk is rubbed evenly and then thinly sliced until transparent. The meat heart is cut into thin slices and wrapped in the cake.
Stacks of bamboo baskets are baked on the charcoal fire, the cake slowly turns from milky white to slightly yellow, and the aroma of almonds gradually overflows.
After half an hour of slow baking, the chef removes the macaroons to cool, then packs them up and takes them to the next shelf.
From grinding and baking, to scones, to packaging, everything is done by hand.
Almond cookies are one of the pronouns of Macau souvenirs.
At ports and airports, tourists almost have one share.
The various Macau cakes they carry in large and small bags come from large factories, and some come from family-style workshops like "The Most Fragrant Bakery".
For decades, this "handcrafted, charcoal-baked" scent has been attracting tourists.
The Su sisters from Guangzhou were attracted to find "the most fragrant bakery".
"We read public comments that this bakery is traditional and purely handmade. We searched for a long time and asked many people to find it here." Miss Su said, "We like traditional and handmade methods, and we specially buy some to eat and give to relatives and friends."
Mr. Huang, a resident of Macau, is a regular customer of "The Most Fragrant Bakery". He said: "This time I bought original almond cookies and chicken cakes to give to friends in the mainland to support local originality. There are not many old shops like this. "
Tan Siying said that when business is at its best, there is a long queue to buy cakes.
Due to the impact of the epidemic, there are not as many tourists as before.
"Because it's handmade, it's not as hard as machine pressed, so many customers find it more crispy and delicious."
As a third-generation descendant, Tan Siying is also thinking about how to continue to innovate on the basis of adhering to tradition.
"Most Fragrant Bakery" has launched a small package that is more suitable for young people, and is also considering expanding to mainland e-commerce when the time is right.
However, the traditional taste and pure hand-made are still the same core of this old shop.
"The biggest selling point of 'Most Fragrance Bakery' is tradition and craftsmanship. We maintain this original intention, not rush in quantity, guarantee quality, and retain Macau's characteristics." Tan Siying said.
In 2020, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government included the macaroon making skills in the list of intangible cultural heritage.
According to the Cultural Affairs Bureau, as one of the characteristic types of traditional Tang cakes, almond cake is an important manifestation of the inheritance and development of Chinese food culture in Macao, and its image has become one of the symbols of Macao's food culture.
After a period of inheritance and the persistence of three generations, the four characters on the plaque of "The Most Fragrant Cakes" in the store have faded, but the original local flavor is still inherited...
"The almond cake is an intangible cultural heritage of Macau. I really want to keep it and let more people know the cultural card of Macau." Tan Siying said, and hoped that the epidemic will pass soon, and more people can come to Macau and patronize the "Most Fragrant Bakery" ".