FRENCH FINEST PASTRIES ONLY AT BUKA FRANCEZE

BY RUDINA HOXHA & JOSE PINTO

Photo credit: Trailblazing Magazine

Model of Trailblazing Magazine: Livia Hoxha

For 23 years, the French businesswoman, Marie Therese Marchal has been welcoming an innumerable amount of Albanian and foreign clients in her particular shop – Buka Franceze (French bread) – positioned just in front of the Swiss Embassy in Tirana at ex-Bllok area. Marie, who recently turned 72, loves what she does and what she does, she does properly. For her, quality is the King and the detail the Queen. That’s why her business resists to time.

“Yes, 23 years with Buka Franceze! I haven’t felt the years because of working without a stop and because I like so much to create. It is fantastic,” Marchal says while she puts on our table fresh croissants, éclairs, brioche, macaroons and mille-feuille. Looking and tasting such “objects of desire,” you realize that the secret is the hard work and passion. Handmade using only the best ingredients from Albania, France and Belgium, such pastries are a must for every sweet devotee.

“I have been the first to introduce

macaroons in Tirana some 14 years ago and later, the French croissants, brioche and other special pastries like St. Honor.

Many have tried to copy them but they have failed because French pastry chefs have come to train my staff or they have gone to France to gain experience,” she beams with joy.

“I am proud of my pastries, they can compete with the pastries in the French shops. I have always liked the idea of turning Buka Franceze into “a second” French Embassy,” she says. The shop is all decorated by her. She has done a lot with little money. “ What is interesting about me is that I do a lot with little money. I don’t need to buy expensive things. Simple means beautiful,” she says.

One of her oldest brothers, who started as a patisserie chef at the age of 14, supported Marie in her endeavor. But as she reveals her parents and her grandfathers and grandmothers were in the restaurants’ business, so she was raised in such an environment.

“When I came to Albania, the cream caramel was the dessert in fashion. Not

much variety. So I opened a small pastry shop. My brother helped me a lot. He was a stimulus,” Marchal says. Through all these years, she confirmed that to make a sustainable business, a lot of will, courage and hard work are needed. Even in the times of pandemic, Marie never closed the shop. She kept buying the same expensive ingredients, not cheaper, in order to keep the quality of her special products. “Happy customers are far more important than the money. I remember one lady sent me a postcard thanking for the wonderful cake and pastries we did for her. This is a little thing but it meant a lot to me,” Marchal says. Her fame has gone beyond the borders of Albania. Many Kosovars visit her shop and enjoy the wonderful pastries. Before they leave, they get bags with her “masterpieces.”

Marie Therese Marchal (R) posing with the model of Trailblazing Magazine, Livia Hoxha

“Often I have thought of a franchise of Buka Franceze in Prishtina because the Kosovars as well like my products and they consume a lot. Hopefully the interest will be materialized some day,” Marchal says.