KOCHI: Cochin Bakery is a familiar place for Kochiites. Known for its special ghee cakes and age-old recipes, this bakery came to Kochi way back in 1939. The first outlet was set up at Cannon Shed Road near Marine Drive.
Started by four brothers M P Karunakaran, Achuthan, P Kumaran and P Balakrishnan who came from Thalassery, this bakery was initially nameless. The brothers had studied baking from Mambally Bapu, the first person to bake a Christmas cake in Kerala. He is also the owner of Mambally’s Royal Biscuit Factory, which was founded in 1880.
As the bakery grew in fame along with this port city, it adopted the name Cochin. “We still sustain in the market because of the quality of our food. Our priority was to provide good quality products,” says M P Ramesh, MD of Cochin Bakery and son of Achuthan
“During the wedding of Lord Mount Batten’s daughter, it was my father who delivered one of the wedding cakes. A three-feet cake made by my father,” remembers Ramesh.
According to him, the king of the Cochin kingdom was a regular customer of the bakery. Even Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, who used to run a bookstall on the same street, used to visit the bakery. And many other prominent writers like G Sankara Kurup, S K Pottekkatt and Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai have visited the bakery. “Whenever a ship started its journey from France, Cochin Bakery used to get a telegraph stating what all sweets must be ready by the time it arrives,” he says.
The special items of the bakery are ghee cake, Japanese cake, Butter beans, Mango pie etc. There is a pie made up of banana peel, which is also a unique item. The bakery also entered the Limca Book of Records for making the longest cake — it was 217 feet and had the images of 172 national leaders, important events and celebrities. It is the only bakery in Kerala which won this award.
There & Then
Weekly column on historic, iconic places in the city. Send suggestions to cityexpresskoc@
newindianexpress.com