Justin Wu: Young Culinary Hero

It’s not that Kao­hsiung denizens especially love to eat bread. Rather, the high-quality bakeries and numerous master bakers in the city are a dividend of proximity to Taiwan’s best catering school: NKUHT.

In September 2010, two graduates of NKUHT’s baking program—Justin Wu and Wang Peng­jie—aiming to bake in the Paris and Tokyo way—boldly opened a bakery selling European-style bread with totally natural ingredients. Buzz about the bakery quickly got out, and within just a year they had already established two branch bakeries. But what are the special characteristics of their bread?

Justin Wu says: “Baking depends on technique, but even more on patience. Technique can be cultivated. But patience you either have or you don’t!”

With his shy demeanor, youthful features and black-framed glasses, Wu looks like a kid—no matter how hard he may try to obscure his youthful appearance by not shaving.

He’s just 26 and hasn’t even performed his military service yet, but already boasts an impressive résumé. In 2006, as a sophomore in college, he won a national bread-making competition, earning a spot on a team of chefs that represented Taiwan in competitions abroad. In 2009 he and some younger students from NKUHT went to HOFEX (Hong Kong’s big food show), where they won a gold medal and the “best of the best” award. In 2011 Wu was crowned champion of sweet pastries at the World of Bread (Mondial du Pain) competition in France. And in March of this year, he was once again invited to compete in France.

Justin Wu had attended a regular academic senior high school—Chang-Jung—but then switched tracks to attend the vocationally oriented HKUHT.

While still in high school, Wu attained Class III professional certifications in cooking, taking separate tests on western desserts, bread and mixed drinks. His parents were very supportive of his enrollment in NKUHT.

In his sophomore year, Wu was president of the student association. Feeling obliged to participate in a competition when no one else from his school signed up, he unexpectedly took first place and was selected to represent the nation in international competitions. He was fortunate to go with master baker Wu Pao-chun to the China Grain Products Research and Development Institute, where they received training from the institute’s vice-director Shi ­Kunhe. Twice competing overseas with Wu Pao-chun, Justin Wu served as his assistant and translator, gaining precious experience at the master’s side.

“Bakers have to be diligent and able to endure hardship, because techniques can be learned but one must be born with patience!” Take, for instance, competitions: Frequently you’ll be standing for eight or nine hours, with only occasional chances to steal a few sips of water. These tests of stamina and patience are hard for most people to bear.

Apart from patience, you also need creativity. Take Shakespeare & Co.’s signature “beehive bread” that Wu created in 2008. Bee populations have been in decline as a result of global warming. Wu took French dough and then added local longan honey without adding any extra oil, so that the bread bakes with holes. He then named it “beehive” to remind people about this important environmental issue.

From the bakery’s décor to research of the best baking techniques, Wu strives always for sincerity and a romantic, even poetic appeal.

Wu is a baking pioneer, and he’s also offering a hand to those following in his footsteps. Some 80% of Shakespeare & Co.’s employees graduated from NKUHT after he did, and he provides a NT$20,000 scholarship each term to the school and six internship positions for its students.

Wu has never stopped learning. “Baking may not have a high barrier to entry, but to do it well isn’t easy,” he says. Western cuisine and baking both are rooted in foreign cultures, so foreign language ability is a prerequisite. You’ve also got to continually absorb new knowledge and keep abreast of foreign trends.

When Wu “had the nerve” to open his own bakery, his parents were a little concerned, but they nonetheless bankrolled him. In his spare time, Wu has worked hard to “repay” them by meeting their educational expectations.

He has nearly completed a master’s in education at NKUHT, which he is earning both to please his parents and to develop his critical thinking skills.

As a baker who uses his brain, Wu—much like his shop’s namesake Shakespeare—aspires to the poetry of a sincere and romantic spirit as he bakes his loaves of local joy.