Profile | ‘Bread is the canvas’: sisters behind sourdough bakery and cafe Cuít in Hong Kong on their inspirations
- Le Cordon Bleu trained sisters Stephanie and Tiffany Tse have opened Cuít, specialising in sourdough bread and pastries, in Sai Kung in city’s New Territories
- Cuít’s sourdough bread is cultivating a following – and with flavours like caramelised onion, maple rye, potato and cheese, apricots and walnuts, it’s no wonder
Hong Kong sisters Tiffany and Stephanie Tse grew up in Sai Kung, in the New Territories, and spent their weekends hiking and exploring the area’s islands and beaches.
“We were very outdoorsy, very active, and did a lot of sports, such as cross-country running and badminton,” says Tiffany, 32, the elder by a couple of years.
Food, too, played a big role in their childhood. Their father, William, loved to cook and often hosted dinners for family and friends. “He made sure that we all sat down and had dinner together – that was important,” says Stephanie.
Made in small batches and slow fermented, Cuít’s sourdough is cultivating a loyal following.
“Cuít is borrowed from the French phrase bien cuit [ meaning ‘well done’], and that is how I like the bread – crispy with a crunchy caramelised crust,” says Tiffany, the “bread sister”.
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Stephanie is in charge of the dining menu and pastries, including its range of cookies, with flavours such as the gooey-centred miso banana and pecan oatmeal.
“Proper fermentation and dough hydration ensures the interior of the sourdough is always moist and custardy,” she says, adding that they are made with a blend of stone-ground and high ash content flour from France and Fukuoka, Japan.
“Most commercial, mass-produced sourdough is rushed, which leads to under-fermented dough that lacks flavour and nutrition,” says Tiffany, who gave up a career in law to pursue her bread dream.
“When I was studying in Hong Kong and Britain, I would bake sourdough in my down time and was mesmerised by the process.”
Her “aha” moment came after visiting The Dusty Knuckle, a London bakery known for its rustic loaves.
Stephanie’s own epiphany happened a few years ago in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. “I stumbled upon a restaurant, Admiralgade 26, and was captivated by the lighting, smells, music and food. It was like walking into someone’s living room. I instantly felt very welcome, very at home.”
The cafe artfully blends elements of Scandinavian design – functionality, simplicity and beauty – from the stone slab counter to the chunky wooden stools and textured walls.
But it is the smell of freshly baked bread that is most pleasing. Cuít sells a variety of sourdough in flavours including caramelised onion, maple rye, potato and cheese (aged Gouda, mild goat cheese and farmhouse cheddar from the Netherlands) and one flavoured with jammy apricots and roasted walnuts.
There is also a classic country white, Tiffany’s favourite. “You can taste every ingredient.”
Orders can be made online, or at various points around the city. But it is at the cafe that customers get the full sensory experience.
One loaf is honey rye, made with honey sourced from a bee farm in Sheung Shui, which gives the bread a floral sweetness.
Sitting at Cuít, coffee in hand – try its Peanut Sandy, or white coffee with peanut foam – is a relaxing experience, a reminder of life’s small pleasures. The menu is pared back but considered.
There are sweet treats such as French toast and banana bread, while savoury items include Cuít’s popular market fish karaage sandwich with house-made tartare and a herb cucumber salad.
Stephanie has built a relationship with local fishermen, sourcing seafood daily from a wet market just a few minutes’ walk from the cafe.
“What seafood I use depends on what is fresh and available,” says Stephanie. “It might be eel, prawns or oysters. People like the element of surprise.”
We want to build on this passion to deliver honest and genuine hospitality with simple, well-executed flavours where bread is the canvas
On the table in front of me Stephanie places a ham and cheese sandwich, but it is much more than that. The bread is filled with stracciatella cheese and mortadella, the Italian ham studded with pistachios, the flavour boosted by scallion ginger oil inspired by the poached chicken with ginger scallion sauce dish that their father used to make.
If the phrase “destination sandwich” does not exist, then it should. This is worth travelling a great distance for.
That is what makes Cuít so special. It is not trying to reinvent the classics, only to elevate them.
Like Tiffany, Stephanie also left the corporate world – she was in real estate – and sharpened her hospitality edge with a Diplôme de Cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu as well as experience at London restaurants Typing Room and Fera at Claridge’s.
Some might assume sibling rivalry would enter their working dynamic, but this relationship is less about competition and more about complementing each other.
“Tiff focuses on the bread baking, and I focus on the pastry and dining menu – it’s very complementary,” says Stephanie.
“Together, we want to build on this passion to deliver honest and genuine hospitality with simple, well-executed flavours where bread is the canvas.”
