Abu Dhabi: The façade blends into the building, and is easily missed by those who do not know to look for it. But for regulars and passers by, the aroma of the freshly baked bread is unmistakeable.
Inside the Naser Bader Bakery on Al Falah Street sits Mohammad Naeem, a 27-year-old baker from Afghanistan who has been serving his customers for nearly half his lifetime. Sitting by the cavernous oven, he inserts the round Afghan ‘naan' into the oven, and soon extracts it in the blink of an eye.
"I arrived in the UAE 14 years ago, and have been baking here at this very store ever since. It would be accurate to say I know of no other life," Naeem says.
The baker is in his store for more than 13 hours a day, leaving it for only an hour in the late afternoon to have lunch. But Naeem, who is always dressed in traditional Afghan clothing (a loose long shirt and trousers with head dress), is passionate, and serves customers with a smile.
Unlike most other centrally located bakeries in the capital, Naeem bakes the bread in plain view of passers-by.
To make the naan, Naeem explains that flour is first mixed with water and salt and made into a dough by one of five workers at the bakery. When a customer places an order, the bakers roll out the dough and pierce it with small holes. Naeem then wets the dough slightly and with a wooden slab inserts it into the oven, where it sticks to the walls.
Cheap and wholesome
In two minutes the naan is retrieved with metal tongs and sold for Dh1. It can be eaten simply or with various curries.
"I learnt to bake when I was 18 years old because I considered it to be a useful skill. Now, I bake nearly 550 pieces of bread each day," Naeem says.
The demand is highest in the evening, when many South East Asian workers stop by to buy some bread before heading home.
"Still, this number is nothing. Just four or five years ago, I would easily make 1,000 pieces each day," he adds.
According to the baker, many regular customers, including taxi drivers and other Asian workers, have moved to the outskirts of the city due to municipal regulations about bachelor accommodation.
"There were more traditional Afghan bakeries along this street and we would all see a roaring business. But with our customers living far far away from the city centre now, business is slow and many bakers have shut up shop or moved away," Naeem says.
