When baker Zahir Mohamed arrived in Hong Kong, all he had was a jar of sourdough starter
- Mohamed came to Hong Kong in 2017 after his business in South Africa was sabotaged
- ‘Hong Kong’s climate is possibly the best for making sourdough. You just open the window and your dough expands’
Why did you decide to move to Hong Kong? “I wanted a fresh start. I was running a business in Cape Town and it got sabotaged in a way because I hit a guy. South Africa is still pretty racist. It’s going to need a few generations to loosen its stance on people of colour. Baked was quite successful but it was frowned upon because I wasn’t white.”
What did you expect when you arrived in Hong Kong? “I came here not knowing anyone. All I had in my bag was my sourdough starter. I was held up in customs because they didn’t know what it was. They thought I was trying to smuggle something. With a South African passport, there’s only so many places you can go. I definitely wasn’t going to Singapore because it seemed very boring – I need a little excitement in my life. I landed and had never seen such amazing buildings.”