I've been locating quite a few cheeses, crackers, and associated edibles in the appropriate section of my grocery store lately, and here's one more. As far as I can recall, this is only the second time I've had something from Croatia--the first being fruit spreads, which I talked about in my post on December 30th, 2023. And if you're curious about some famous folks born in Croatia, or with Croatian heritage, check out that post as well. But today it'll be two phyllo crisps from the Nubake line.
Nubake is a brand of the New Bakery d.o.o. company. (Yes, that's how it's rendered--I presume the final three letters with periods mean something like "incorporated," or "company," or "limited liability" or something like that, in Croatian.) As has been the norm lately, the official company website was very terse about the company's history and founder(s), so I was forced to check alternate business websites for what little information there was. New Bakery was started in 2014, and one of its co-founders is Constantine Azar. The other founder(s) remain a mystery. Although one website noted that a "key principal" was Mehmet Yasar Halim, so maybe that person was a co-founder, or a current owner or CEO. Even the number of employees wasn't positively confirmed--a couple of sites claimed it was only 11 or 17, while another listed it as being between 51-200. Which, given the size, and scope of New Bakery, seems much more reasonable. Anyway, you can't discuss New Bakery without mentioning baklava. This flaky, sweet dessert is their flagship product, and they proudly note that they are the largest manufacturer of baklava in the E.U. Reportedly, the company makes 1000 tons of it per year, which works out to 25,000,000 pieces of baklava a year. The New Bakery company website lists four brands--Aladdin, Nubake, Layla, and Filo Snaps. But the difference between these brands is a bit muddled. Evidently most or all of them make some kind of baklava. And the crisps I had had were listed as being Filo Snaps online, but the label reads "Nubake." For what it's worth, there is a 3rd flavor of the crisps I ate, an apple cinnamon kind. New Bakery is said to be available, "from the U.K. to the U.S.," and, "from South Africa to Australia." But the countries besides these four are not mentioned. Finally, New Bakery is imported by the Atalanta Corp., which I just covered a few weeks ago, in my post about Italian dessert cheese on December 14, 2024.
Phyllo crisps, apricot honey flavor: The crisps were rectangular in shape, about 2.5 inches by 1.5 inches (or about 6.5 cm. by 4 cm.), with a light brownish/white color, with visible apricot chunks and seeds. The texture was moist and sticky. Also crunchy and flaky. Sweet. Apricot chunks were chewy. Really tasty--I enjoyed these a lot.
Phyllo crisps, cranberry and oat flavor: Same size and shape as the previous, but cranberry chunks were visible instead of apricot. Also moist and flaky. Also very good. Maybe a tad weaker than the apricot ones, but still more than solid.
After my positive experience with these crisps, I'll eagerly try other New Bakery brands when/if I get the chance. Especially if their baklava is on the shelf. I adore baklava, ever since my friend of Armenian heritage (Hi Leon!) generously brought back some trays of it during our college years. Which turned out to be foolish, alas, as the rest of us would take much more than our fair shares. In conclusion, baklava is delicious.
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