the business
Beautiful confectionery has always fascinated me. The contrast between ingredients and texture, perfectly sized to fit into the palm of your hand and composed of the right number of bites, so as to never overwhelm.
The art of pastry and confectionery making intertwines science, craftsmanship, and precision in a way that makes savoury cooking seem almost primitive in comparison.
And this is why the business came into existence, several years ago.
It has been five years since we moved into b35, the factory, and in this time, the factory has become a way of life for the bunch of us who inhabit it every day.
B35 is magic.
It has walls in blue and grey. The floor is cement and clean. The production area is tiled and has stainless steel surfaces. Every ingredient, tool and equipment is where it was yesterday, and will be in the same spot after we clean up every evening.
The glass windows are large and sparklingly clean, the vast canopy of trees at our doorstep keeps us shaded and prosperous, and we humans walk around in grey and blue kurtas, and sneakers.
Within these walls, we are a silent workshop, diligently practicing a craft and trade.
The only sounds are those of the oven informing us that it has finished its baking cycle, the cookie cutting machine cutting thousands of perfect cutouts, the dough mixer creaming the butter and sugar and the packaging machine so obediently sealing pouch after pouch of freshly baked butter cookies and biscuits.
The focus, repetition, finesse and organisation which we practice everyday allows us to create quality products.
We measure ingredients in milligrams. The stability of cookie dough, on account of being clean and free of any additives, fluctuates with temperature and humidity. Raisins protrude one day from an otherwise perfectly round oatmeal & raisin cookie and come in the way of the packaging machine, which works with a tolerance of a few millimetres. And, some cookies become more golden than others.
This is the nature of our work, as we strive to bring delicious and beautiful baked goods to as many beings as possible.
Manasi
April 2021
