Auckland bakery Sweet and Me started out as a stall at the Parnell markets and picked up popularity with a crowd that barely knew about Pacific flavours.
Fiji-born chef Bertrand Jang then opened a store near the Te Papapa station in Onehunga, with fellow Fijian Lizie Koroivulaono.
Jang has worked around the Pacific and is now focused on creating a range of predominantly sweet baked goods and a few savoury items.
Bertrand Jang's Pacific-inspired treats from his bakery Sweet and Me Photo: Bertrand Jang
Jang tells Kathryn Ryan he has travelled around the Pacific picking up on their own unique cuisines.
“As a child, I’ve always been surrounded by food, there’s not one day that my tummy wasn’t full. I guess that’s my first love, eating.
“So grandma was our beautiful baker and then mum was an enabler so she allowed me to bake as much as I wanted to and that obviously had its hand with this Chinese influence as well.”
Their online store, which was set up first, allowed their business to gain attention during lockdown, he says.
“What many people didn’t realise was that it was a real good blessing for us ‘cause all that they were doing is just looking into Sweet and Me, looking in to our goals and what we align with and supporting our small business.”
Then finally able to set up a stall at the Parnell markets, Jang saved up enough money to open a store and his customers followed.
Bertrand Jang's Pacific-inspired treats from his bakery Sweet and Me Photo: Bertrand Jang
The store, which will be three years old this year, has become so popular it is running at capacity, he says.
“We’re at a stage where we’re growing quite exponentially and we’re looking at a bigger space so that we can meet our demand and obviously do a lot more creations in the savoury side as well.”
In fact, he says their coconut buns or pineapple pies are the top sellers and they barely have any left at the end of the day.
“I guess these two major power foods are quite nostalgic in all Pacific islands, we have our own recipes, our own memories attached to these two products.
“So when our Pasifika audience comes in and they try these two desserts, it just takes them back to the islands. So Sweet and Me is somewhat like a Pasifika getaway.”
Bertrand Jang's Pacific-inspired treats from his bakery Sweet and Me Photo: Bertrand Jang
These indulgent desserts rely on natural sweeteners mostly, he says.
“One thing I guess many of our customers like is that our sweets are not that sweet and that the sweetness actually comes from the fruit, being that we use fresh coconuts that are hand grated, we use fresh pineapple form down the road, seasonal fruits, organs and lemons are in season, kefir limes.”
Jang also helped resurrect a nearly lost traditional dessert – loli – which he says made him realise he needed use his baking journey to preserve cultural foods.
“I asked my aunties and they thought I was making it up.
“So it took one of my friend’s cousin to come over to Suva, it took about three or four hours, just to come and teach me how to make this traditional dessert.”
Made out of coconut cream, brown sugar and lemon, loli can be used in versatile ways depending on the temperature it’s cooked at, he says.
“It’s cooked on open fire and then it’s reduced to a very fudge-y consistency and then it’s cooled down rapidly in cold water and then muddled into small round balls.”
“[At the Griffins conference], I used it to recreate the New Zealand toffee pop that Griffins had, and I used it on a coconut cookie and then I covered it with a dark chocolate ganache.”
Now he hopes to pass down his skills to a younger generation.
“Hopefully, they’ll inject their own self into the cooking and sort of come up with new creations themselves.”
