Vegan cook tastes success with butterless biscuits
Without dairy, baker Hareg Messert's cookies taste clearly of chocolate, ginger or pecans
A funny thing happens when people try two versions of a cookie made by baker Hareg Messert: They often like the vegan one better.
“They'll start off saying, ‘Oh, not me. I'm not vegan.' But then they taste it,'' she says.
She thinks it's the butter or lack of it, that does the trick. Without dairy products, her cookies taste clearly of chocolate, ginger or pecans because, as she puts it, “the flavours have not been taken over by the butter''.
Carving a niche
Whatever the reason, Messert, 39, may have found her niche.
A year and a half after opening Chez Hareg bakery, this former Ritz-Carlton pastry chef is widening her reach.
She's supplying to several cafes and she's starting to sell her all-natural cookies in a few area stores.
At her booths, Messert gave out samples of her classic French cookies, biscotti, panettone and pound cake, a smart move for someone confident that nibbles would translate into sales.
Between that and media attention, her customer base started to grow beyond the Ethiopian community near the bakery.
Her neighbours have helped her build a following, especially among vegans or sometime-vegans.
First taste
Messert was introduced to French-style pastries, in West Africa, by cooks who worked for her family. She started baking, but it wasn't until after she came to the US that she considered making a career of it.
Most of her friends are vegan and when she first thought of creating cookies with them in mind, people told her it would be easy, “because vegan products don't have to taste as good'', she said with a smile.
“But I don't like that. I think if it's vegan it should taste just as good or better.'' Converting recipes to conform to vegan requirements while producing a great taste was easier in some cases than others.
Even though she's starting to sell packages of her cookies locally, Messert doesn't want to grow too fast.
She doesn't want to use machines for anything that she can do without.
“When you touch it with your hands, you give it life, you give it love, you make a relationship,'' Messert said. “I believe in that.''
