Baker Sarah Lisa has this interesting story about how the Dutch name their confections. As I slice a piece of the marzipan mergpijp she says, “If it resembles or reminds us of something, we call it that unlike the French who give their foods fancy names. Look at the slice…it resembles bone marrow… that is what mergpijp means.” She laughs at my expression because that is the last thing one would imagine while taking a bite of the brown and white cake covered in marzipan, filled with vanilla buttercream and raspberry jam and dipped in chocolate.
Then there is bokkenpootje (translation: goat’s feet) which is almond meringue cookies sandwiched with apricot buttercream and tips dipped in Belgian chocolate. All chocolate used is Belgian Callebaut. These along with strawberry sloffen and chocolate cream truffles are also among the top bestsellers at Brood and Banket – Zera Noya Dutch Bakery, at The Croft, Kacheripady.
Opened in February 2023, the bakery has been winning a steady stream of fans for its typical Dutch confections baked by Dutch native Sarah Lisa.
Marzipan mergpijp
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
The glass enclosed baking space, flanked by the counter and seating, occupies centre space. The curious can watch the baking or the prep being done and see the bakers work. There is an outdoor seating arrangement as well. It is not very large, but rather bears a cosy vibe. “This is how bakeries are back home in the Netherlands. You either pick up something on the go or sit and savour the experience,” says Sarah who arrived in Kochi in 2020 after her marriage to marine engineer Vibin Varghese.
The fragrance of freshly brewed coffee hangs in the air, the swoosh of it making a sort of comforting background. Croissants (sandwiches) and rolls can also be had here.
The display is as much a treat for the eyes as the taste buds: the sliced pink strawberries on the slof, slices of kiwi and orange and apricot on the fresh fruit tart, pink-red Pink Lady madelines, caramel brown of the Dutch apple tart, the beige and brown of the boterkoek (butter cake).
Strawberry slof
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
The jams, preserves, cream fillings… almost everything that goes into the food is made in-house. The chocolate is imported as is the cream while the rest is sourced from India. Sarah has trained her team in baking Dutch goodies. Apart from the confections, there are croissants (sandwiches), pies and rolls. Sourdough breads, a collab with baker Tsarina Vacha, are also available.
With Zera Noya, Sarah wants to change the ‘cafe’ culture in the city which has come to expect burgers, pizza and pasta.
We try a latte, which is an ideal foil to the marzipan sweetness of the mergpijp. The chocolate truffle is a soft, chocolate-dusted cloud of lightness while the tart freshness of the strawberry elevates the slof.
Zera Noya started as a lockdown business that year, with Sarah and Vibin working out of their home. Vibin had just quit his job and the couple had moved to Kochi from Bengaluru. She met Vibin while volunteering on a cruise ship and got married in 2018. Up until 2020, when they started baking out of their home, Sarah, who belongs to Dan Belder in the Netherlands, had been working in large commercial kitchens including helping friends set up a cafe in China. “That is so much easier than running a small operation out of home!” she says.
Bokkenpootje
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
Initially, baking out of a home kitchen was not easy but the couple figured out their way as they went along and found a loyal clientele. Sarah decided to focus on rustic, typically Dutch confections such as cheesecakes, cakes, boterkoek (Dutch butter cake) and strawberry slof.
Zera Noya means a beautiful beginning in Hebrew, and that is what it was meant to be.
The plan was to eventually open a commercial space, and the home bakery business gave them the confidence to set up a bakery. Vibin did the groundwork – finalising the space in The Croft, designing it and ordering the machinery. While he was around when Zera Noya opened shop, Vibin unexpectedly passed away in December 2023. Sarah continues to live in Kochi with her daughter.
She says “Zera Noya has assumed a deeper meaning for me over the past two-and-a-half years. It has turned out to be literally a new beginning. I was fascinated by South-East Asia. I wanted to travel to countries like China, Tibet, Hong Kong but India wasn’t even on the list. But here I am, six years later… This is, literally, a labour of love.”
Brood & Banket – Zera Noya Dutch Bakery, is at The Croft, Kacheripady, Kochi.
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