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There's a curious scene in the travelogue documentary which follows New Zealand baker Dean Brettschneider carrying a tray of his home-baked bread through the streets of Shanghai.
The locals are blase about most of the Western-style bread, until they sample Brettschneider's caramelised garlic, tomato and basil rolls.
Suddenly a swarm of traditionally dressed Chinese descend on the lofty Southern bloke, jostling for a taste.
"I knew they would like that bread," says the professional baker and patissier over the phone during a break from prepping for a cooking demonstration with Ruth Pretty in Wellington. "The caramelised garlic gives it a sweetness which the Chinese really appreciate."
The travelogue is a bonus feature on a DVD that comes with Brettschneider's fourth book Global Baker (published by Random House). It is packed with delectable illustrations and detailed descriptions of breads, cakes, pastries and desserts.
Brettschneider makes no apologies for the mass of information, and recipes requiring long periods in the kitchen. The book is intended for people who like baking, and it gives them the latest techniques, and even greater chance of success in the kitchen.
Brettschneider, 38, describes the book as "a collection of baking-related influences from throughout my life". The affable chef roams through Europe, sharing traditional baking secrets, chatting with the likes of chef Peter Gordon, and re-inventing some classic recipes - the green tea madeleines are a novel twist on a French favourite; the mince and cheese pie is made with a dollop of Marmite in the filling.
"It's a sentimental journey for a bloke," says Brettschneider. "Some people think I'm a rumply old baker, but I love the romance of the traditional artisan lifestyle."
You have to love a guy who lovingly creates a dairy-free, low-fat, lactose-free, gluten-free chocolate mousse cake.
He is a self-confessed perfectionist, as is shown in the section on creating a "levain" or sourdough starter for a pain au levain. His handling of the dough has led to friends questioning his sanity.
"I take it in the car when I go shopping, if I'm making a loaf for a dinner party at home. I look after it as if it were my child. If it needs to be fed or attended to at lunchtime, I go back to my car and attend to it."
"Attending" to the bread involves knocking it back or expelling the gases.
"If I don't follow the processes, the bread won't turn out. But yeah, people either think I'm a nutter or it's really cool thing to do," he chortles.
It is, he says, important to "lift the bar" in an age where tousle-haired celebrity chefs endlessly flog easy cuisine.
"Anyone can put a dollop of cream on the side of a dessert, but how hard is it to whip it a bit more and get a hot spoon and roll it?"
After five years in Shanghai, Brettschneider is a leading light in the Asian baking scene, collaborating with the likes of celebrity chefs Rick Stein and David Laris, who describes the Kiwi baker as a "breath of fresh air".
Food writer Lauraine Jacobs calls him "one of the most driven individuals I have met in the culinary world".
And yes, he works hard. The travelogue starts with Brettschneider at his hotel at 2am, and although he no longer has to rise at this ungodly hour, he likes to be reminded of his baking roots.
Brettschneider fell in love with baking after insisting on taking home economics instead of woodwork at school, and later took up an apprenticeship with bakers John and Henry van Til at the Rangiora Bakery in Canterbury.
He won a string of baking awards before leaving New Zealand to work for some of the world's most exclusive hotels, supermarket bakeries and with some of Europe's leading bakers and pastry chefs.
Five years ago, he was appointed BakeMark International's technical account manager, and he now travels Europe and Asia-Pacific keeping up with new techniques and baking trends.
In Shanghai, he is a consultant to retail baking chain Christine (Shanghai's version of Bakers Delight) and five-star hotels. And as a passionate artisan, he promotes his own signature brand of bread.
Recently he's helped set up a series of micro-bakeries in chef David Laris' Shanghai delicatessen and cafe chain, Slice.
"I'm hugely passionate about baking even if it involves teaching people to bake better McDonald's buns," he says. "There is still art and technique involved in the process."
But why should we impose Western-style bread on Eastern palates?
"The Chinese want to learn, and they're very proud to be baking with European techniques. But they have different taste sensibilities to Europeans, so I've stylised them for Chinese tastes. For example they don't like heavy-grain German breads - so I will reduce the heaviness of the bread and add a little bit of sugar and fat."
Back in New Zealand, Brettschneider is shocked at the price of a loaf of bread in the supermarkets.
"If the big guys are charging these prices, then there's no reason local bakers can't compete. The challenge for them is to think about how to make a quality product with a difference."
