'Wood-fire breads - nothing beats that'

Mustafa Suphi is up from 4am every day, facing the sweltering heat of 350 degrees Celsius. It reminds the Zeki’s Bakery co-owner of his hometown in Izmir, Turkey, where every morning he’d open his father’s shop to the smell of fresh bread.

“No bread, no breakfast,” he tells RNZ podcast Here Now.

“Bread is an important part of daily food in Turkey,” says Anil, son of co-owner Yusuf Özbal. “Everything you eat, whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner, we have it with bread. It's like rice for the Asians - bread is for the Turkish. It's part of the culture.”

Here Now presented by Kadambari Raghukumar is about the journeys people make to New Zealand, their identities and perspectives, all of which shape their life here.

The West Auckland bakery was founded by Zeki Kizilata before being passed to Yusuf Özbal in the early 2000s. When Özbal took over, he began supplying Turkish flatbread bread to restaurants across the region every day.

They serve up a range of Turkish breads and pastries, including gözleme, börek and lahmajun, but pide stands out as a staple.

Pide dates to the Ottoman Empire, when it was an ancient Anatolian practice of baking elongated boat shaped flatbreads on the walls of communal brick ovens. Depending on the region, you’ll find them topped with various condiments, like mince, cheese or eggs.

The Turkish flatbreads and simit – a bagel-like bread but bigger and sweeter – are some of the cheapest breakfasts you can find in Turkey, Suphi says. Traditionally, they are eaten with condiments like feta cheese, butter, olive oil and tomato.

Özbal is enjoying his retirement abroad, but his son, Anil, has been helping in the business since they moved to New Zealand.

For them, it wasn't just about staying true to Turkish tradition, but almost making sure they didn't entirely shut the door on memories that they brought with them.

Anil remembers taking a trip to the local shops for fresh bread and sneaking in a few bites while on his way back to breakfast with the family. It’s his favourite memory.

“It's the simple plain, wood-fire breads. Nothing beats that,” he says. “Anything you do actually in the wood fired oven is better than the electrical oven. It gives that unique texture, the taste.”

Thanks to the similar culinary traditions from Turkey to the Balkans, customers looking for a taste of home come from various places too, Suphi says.

“We call it börek, very traditionally. That's how we make in here, spinach and feta - in Greece, they call it spanakopita, but all the Balkans call it börek.”