Creating the delicious

MT: I grew up in Hokkaido, Japan, and I still have family there that I try to visit yearly. My husband and I have been residents of the SF Bay Area for the last 20 years. We have two kids and a dog, and we live near the ocean in Pacifica. When I am not working and driving my kids around town, I enjoy going for a stroll at the beach, visiting a local library, and making efforts on beautifying my yard. I am quite an amateur gardener but enjoy being outside.

DJ: What first interested you in baking?

MT: I remember my mom baking bread at home when I was little. She is a great cook, and both my parents love good food, so I would say my love for cooking and baking was definitely cultivated in those early years at home. Years passed, I was working as a line cook at a restaurant right next to its baking department, and that’s where I really fell in love with artisan baking. I loved the precision and scientific approach in baking more than cooking which relies a lot more on one’s senses. Moreover, I am such a morning person and working nights at a restaurant was just not meant for me.

DJ:. How did you learn to bake?

MT: I graduated from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. The education there gave me a solid understanding in the foundation of baking and pastry. At San Francisco Baking Institute, I learned tremendously and grew as a baker through working with my peers and with visiting instructors.

DJ. Are there teachers or mentors you would like to mention?

MT: My mentor is Michel Suas, who is the founder of SFBI. I am grateful for the opportunities that he has given me over the years, pushing me to challenge in many ways — from opening a bakery to making a bread Christmas Tree to teaching workshops overseas. It has been a fun journey to work for him.

DJ: Describe San Francisco Baking Institute and what it encompasses.

MT: SFBI is a leader in artisan baking education, best known for the bread programs. We offer courses that cater to home bakers, enthusiasts, and professionals. Most courses are topic specific and run for two to five in length. We also have a seven-week Bread & Viennoiserie Training Series, which educates people who aspire to become professional bakers. Many of our graduates enter the industry upon graduation, and some of them open and operate their own bakery.

DJ: How did you come to teach at San Francisco Baking Institute?

MT: I first started working as an intern at SFBI in 2006. SFBI began working on opening a retail bakery in San Francisco soon after, and I became a full-time employee to work on the project. After working at the bakery for a few years, it was a natural progression for me to move into an assistant instructor position, and I slowly made my way to teaching full-time over the next couple of years. What’s great about teaching is that I learn something new each time, even though I have been teaching the same class over and over again. To me, teaching is a constant effort to find out a better way to explain/demonstrate different concepts and techniques, and there is always room for improvement. It gives me such joy when I witness a lightbulb going off in students’ heads after they understand a complex concept, or once they become capable of following a challenging technique. I also enjoy creating new classes, and we try to make a good balance of being innovative and capturing our audience’s interests. We launched several new courses this year, and it creates excitement among the staff too. I am very much looking forward to our new cannabis baking workshop that is coming up this fall that I will be co-teaching.

DJ: What makes Japanese home baking different from other styles of baking?

MT: In general, Japanese cuisine respects the flavor of individual ingredients. I find it true in baking, too, and popular breads and pastries are praised for their rich flavor of milk, wheat, eggs, etc. It’s interesting that American baking adds vanilla to most everything, because vanilla flavor is perceived as plain here. Another difference in Japanese baking is the sweetness level. Japanese baked goods tend to have less sugar, and I think it connects with the idea of enhancing the natural flavor of ingredients and avoiding overpowering them with the sweetness.

DJ: What draws students to classes on Japanese home baking?

MT: I was pleasantly surprised by how popular the Japanese Home Baking class has been. The products we make in the class are very basic and nothing fancy, but that may be why people are attracted to it because they are approachable. My kids absolutely love when I teach the class, because I get to come home with soft milk bread and fluffy cheesecake, which are their favorites.

DJ: What is your favorite recipe to teach?

MT: In the Japanese Home Baking class, I love the chiffon cake recipe for its simplicity. It only has five basic ingredients (flour, eggs, sugar, oil and milk) and it is relatively easy to put together. The cake is super soft and tender, and not too sweet — which is what I like about it the most.

San Francisco Baking Institute is located at 525 DNA Way in South San Francisco. For more information call (650) 589-5784 or visit SFBI.COM.