It was a scorching summer afternoon in Kochi’s Thrippunithura. The year was 2000. My cousin, back from school, suggested, “Let’s step out for puffs and soda.” At 13, and unfamiliar with the term ‘puff’, I was curious.
We headed to the nearest bakery, where she ordered a chicken puff and an egg puff. The chicken puff was a delightful mess, with flaky pastry crumbs settling on my white blouse. The exterior was crisp, encasing a savoury chicken filling. We washed it down with lime sodas and packed a few more for later. This marked the beginning of my enduring love for Kerala’s baked goods, a relationship nurtured on every visit to the state.
To this day, Kerala’s children flock to bakeries after school for motta puffs (egg puffs) or sweet parotta (a sweet, flaky, layered flatbread). “It’s something we look forward to – heading to the nearest bakery for an egg puff, a slice of carrot cake, and sweet tea or fizzy soda,” says 14-year-old Kishan.
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A culinary legacy
Kerala’s bakery history traces back to 1852 when the king of Travancore, Veera Kerala Varma, aimed to cater to Western traders — Portuguese, French, and British — and approached Ignatius Rozario to cook Western-style baked goods. Thus, Rozario’s Bakery was born, later helmed by Clara Rozario. By 1952, the family had expanded their bakeries to Kottayam, also running a catering business that served reception banquets and tea parties. Rozario’s Bakery, however, closed in 1987 following Clara’s death.
Tsarina Abrao Vacha, a fifth-generation baker from the Rozario family, notes that baked items became popular in Kerala for being perceived as healthier alternatives to fried snacks. “Baked goods like sponge cakes, made from wheat flour, contained fewer preservatives. They were less labour-intensive than fried snacks like vada, which required freshly ground batter,” she explains.
“One would just need to put it in a paper bag and take it. It was mess-free,” she adds. “The flavours were different, be it a puff pastry filled with meat or vegetables or different types of cake, there was a wow factor.”
Mambally family of Thalassery, is said to have baked the first Christmas cake in Kerala in 1883. (Photo credit: Renuka Mambally)
In the late 1970s, as more women entered the workforce, children increasingly turned to bakeries for quick snacks. Renuka Bala, a fifth-generation member of Mambally’s Royal Biscuit Factory in Thalassery, another family that has significantly influenced Kerala’s bakery culture, remarks, “It (baked snacks) is considered broadly healthier than a packaged snack, it is more wholesome. Also, who can resist when you get a waft of freshly baked bread or biscuit as you walk past a bakery? It’s so inviting, isn’t it?”
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On a recent trip to Trivandrum, I visited Santha Bakery, run by Premnath Bala, whose great-grandfather, Mambally Bapu, baked Kerala’s first Christmas cake in 1883. “The cake was made for Murdoch Brown, who owned a cinnamon plantation at Anjarankandy,” Premnath says.
A few days before Christmas, Brown walked into the bakery with a cake he bought from England and asked Mambally to recreate it. Brown suggested that Bapu buy brandy from Mahe. The latter, however, gave his twist to the recipe and “added arrack (a country liquor) made from cashews, apples, and kadali pazham (a variety of small banana), added the fruits Brown gave him, with nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon. Brown said it was excellent,” Premnath says.
Evolving traditions
Then came the 1960s, when Modern Food Industries was set up. It was the company that introduced sliced single-loaf bread with a longer shelf life. During this time, numerous bakeries, like Brownies and KR Bakes, emerged, many managed by Mambally family descendants.
To this day, Kerala’s children flock to bakeries after school for motta puffs, cakes and pastries. (Photo credit: Sumitra Nair)
“The bakery culture deepened with the emergence of small cafes and bakery-cum-cool bars popping up after 1971,” says Ramesh MP, an office bearer of the Bakers Association Kerala and a fourth-generation member of the Mambally family. The association, formed in 2006, has documented over 20,000 bakeries across the state.
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Nostalgic nibbles
Journalist Anjuly Mathai recalls her boarding school days in Kottayam, where weekly outings meant visiting Anns bakery for meat rolls, chocolate éclairs, and doughnuts, accompanied by gossip sessions. “At that time, Kottayam had only two major bakeries — Anns and Spinneys. Every Saturday evening, we were allowed to go for our weekly outings from 4-6 pm and were given Rs 100 to spend. Anns was our favourite hangout place, although Spinneys had great chocolate balls, she says. “Anns shaped my childhood in a way no other place did.”
“The unique flavors of Kerala’s bakery items – the puffs, pastries, and cakes – are special,” says Mathai. “With the rise of patisseries and pastry chefs, I hope traditional bakeries won’t become relics of the past. My daughter loves visiting bakeries for her favorite snacks, just as I did as a child.”
Renuka Bala is dedicated to preserving the Mambally legacy, rediscovering old recipes, and offering traditional biscuits and plum cakes through Mambally’s website. My uncles are growing old and I wanted to ensure that the legacy, which is practically part of history, continues,” she says.
For many, bakeries are entwined with fond memories. Sachin Salim, a 37-year-old marketing professional from Aluva, fondly recalls summer vacations spent playing cricket and enjoying sweet parotta and popsicles with friends. “Those bakery visits remain a special memory to this day,” he says.
