Good bread takes its time
At The Bread Bar, a loaf is three days in the making. Meet the baker who believes patience is an ingredient.
A crisp crust gives way to a soft centre. Butter meets a warm slice. The pleasures of a good loaf are immediate, even when the work behind it is anything but. Merel Nahuysen’s July feature meets Marc Raphael Joseph, founder of Kuala Lumpur’s The Bread Bar, to explore what happens before breakfast reaches the table.
Three days, one loaf
At Marc’s bakery, bread follows a three-day rhythm. Flour and water meet first, followed by an overnight chilled rest. The next day introduces starter and salt, with repeated stretching and folding to build the dough’s structure. On the third morning, the team begins shaping by hand before proofing and baking.
The process overlaps with itself. While today’s bread cools, another batch is already developing for a future morning. It is a working routine built around patience, with each loaf passing through stages that cannot simply be compressed into the hours before the doors open.
A craft shaped by its climate
Kuala Lumpur’s warmth and humidity add another layer of attention. Marc explains that a recipe written for a cool European kitchen will behave differently here. Chilled water, ice and controlled storage help the team manage fermentation, making the surrounding conditions part of the craft.
Flour blends, hydration and timing change between loaves too. An olive bread has its own balance; an ancient-grain loaf needs another. For Marc, the character of bread comes from those decisions as much as the ingredients. The story leaves a familiar breakfast looking a little different: behind the slice is a sequence of skilled, repeated actions, and a team that started work long before the city woke up.
The Art of Baking Good Bread
Original story by Merel Nahuysen. The Expat, July 2026, pages 48–49.
This digital preview is adapted from the original magazine feature. Text has been shortened and rewritten; photography and artwork come from the print edition.
