Kimberly bakes Korean cookies in Zoetermeer: ​​’They are very ugly’

Areum Bakery is a colorful oasis on Willem Dreeslaan in Oosterheem. As soon as you step into this Korean bakery from the busy, gray street, you find yourself in a world of neon lights, action figures and candy drinks. Owner Kimberly de la Parra (38) and partner Noël Troenokarso (43) sell ‘ugly’ cookies here. How did this Korean case end up in Zoetermeer?

Kimberly’s choice of business has little to do with her own heritage or that of her husband. “We are originally Javanese,” she says. “Baking is in our genes, but the idea for Areum Bakery did not originate in Indonesia. We were inspired during a holiday in South Korea.”

Baking as pop culture

In South Korea there is baking hot. Cookie cafes and pastry shops have become an indispensable part of the streets of the capital Seoul, among others. “The interiors of those businesses are over-the-top,” says Kimberly. “For example, we saw a bakery with a waterfall and a croissanterie where everything was shaped like a croissant. We immediately registered for a baking workshop. We wanted to take this concept to the Netherlands.”

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‘Ugly cookies’

During the workshop, the couple discovered that the pastries are not traditional Korean, but variations on trends from Europe and America. For example, the cookies from Areum Bakery resemble American ones chocolate chip cookies. Only they are smoother, less sweet and ‘ugly’. Kimberly: “We call it ugly cookiesbecause they are ‘anti-perfect’: a counterpart to French pastry in which everything has to be perfect.”

This idea appeals not only to Kimberly, but also to fans. She meets them at the events of Comic Con, a fair for comic book enthusiasts, where she regularly stands with a pop-up bakery. “Last year a fan came to us who felt strongly connected to us ugly cookies. She thought the cookies were perfect on the inside, but not very nice on the outside. That moved me.”

Cookies to order

You can buy the cookies individually in Kimberly’s store at Willem Dreeslaan 220. You can also order them from Monday to Friday via website. The boxes are sent in the mail on Thursdays. You can choose between six flavors, such as tiramisu, kinder bueno and matcha. There are also brownies and blondies. You pay 4.75 euros for a cookie and a brownie costs 4.50 euros.

“It’s really handmade,” says Kimberly. “We do all the weighing, kneading, shaping and baking ourselves in our bakery. So you get every cookie special attention. And you can taste that.”