He was waiting for our call before heading to New York to buy a kitchen rolling mill which should allow him to triple his production. In North Conway, in the charming state of New Hampshire, David Hausman is well known. For more than ten years, this American has run a sandwich shop called Big Dave’s Bagel & Deli, where he prepares everything America can offer more healthy to eat on the go. In recent months, the chef has made his way among bagels, wraps, burritos, cookies and muffins to a totally improbable product: kouign amann. The success is such that the man decided to create his own brand called the “kweenie”. “I noticed that no one could pronounce kouign amann correctly. I wanted to simplify the thing ”, explains the solid fellow.
Having become popular in recent years in some trendy corners of the United States and Canada, the specialty of Douarnenez (Finistère) had received the unexpected support of some influential stars such as the model Emily Ratajkowski who ensured to eat it “one a day” (which we still doubt). Since then, Breton pastry has landed in the windows of trendy boutiques in New York, Seattle or Montreal, driven by the success of French chef Dominique Ansel.
The elegant pavement of sugar and butter has also conquered North Conway, a town of 2,500 inhabitants nestled a few kilometers from the green peaks of the White Mountains, in the northeast of the United States. It is here that Big Dave sells more than 70 small kouign amann every day, he who has never set foot in France. “I had discovered kouign amann in a Montreal pastry shop, I found it incredible, so rich. I wanted to try it but I was running out of time. But we had to close the shop for five weeks last year because of the Covid-19. It gave me time to test a lot of stuff ”.
After checking out a bunch of recipes online and screwing up a fair amount of cooking, David Hausman finally got his hands on it. When his sandwich shop reopened, he offered some of his kouign amann to the thousand high school students, students and regulars who frequent his establishment every day. To his surprise, what he describes as a “croissant on steroids” quickly snapped up, even selling for $ 5. “There isn’t a day when I don’t receive a mail asking if I can deliver.” His answer is always the same. No, Dave prefers to sell everything in stores, sometimes without having the time to put them on display, overwhelmed by pre-orders.
“This is America, when you have a good idea, you have to protect it”
Entirely shaped by hand, his small pastries follow a traditional recipe. To protect his concept and facilitate the pronunciation of customers who are not always inclined to twist their mouths to order a “queen-a-man”, Dave chose to rename them to call them “Kweenies”. “I wanted to avoid having the idea stolen from me. It’s America, when you have a good idea, you have to protect it, ”he laughs, before adding. “By creating my brand, I can innovate without offending anyone”. His “Kweenies” are now available in cinnamon and maple syrup versions.
With his new kitchen machines, Dave should be able to serve nearly 250 “Kweenies” a day at his popular establishment, light years away from the chic bakeries of New York. “What impresses me is seeing the pleasure our customers have in eating it. It’s as if it made them happy ”. He loves the softness of the butter at the heart, protected by the caramelization of the sugar that surrounds it. Who Said Americans Have Bad Taste?