This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 16, 2015.

Gone were the days when people would think of fusion food as just the marrying of cuisines from two different cultures. Indeed, fusion fare become so ubiquitous in the world today that they no longer seem like a mix of anything special, instead, they have become dishes that people expect to see everywhere they look. 

Today, chefs and foodies worldwide are starting a new fusion food trend of their own, called mash-ups. These new dishes are two distinct food concepts combined into one, for example, the Cronut (across between a doughnut and a croissant), the ramen burger, bacon shake, pizza cake and in our very own backyard, the molten salted egg yolk croissant. 

The Cronut, invented by chef Dominique Ansel in his New York City bakery was the first mash-up involving croissants, and went on to kick-start the fusion craze for this flaky French pastry. Made by frying a laminated dough in grapeseed oil, sugared, filled and glazed, and made to resemble a doughnut, the Cronut name has even been trademarked by Ansel. In 2013, the Cronut was named by Time magazine as one of the best inventions of the year. 

Our local version, the molten egg yolk croissant, was invented by Le Bread Days Café, a little hole-in-the-wall bakery located in SS2. The bakery’s fame soared into the stratosphere when their signature molten salted egg yolk croissant was featured by food blogger Rebecca Saw last month. So high was the demand that the bakery quickly ran out of croissants just minutes after taking them out of the oven. The traditional croissant is filled with a gooey filling of melting salted egg yolk, making the French staple decidedly Asian. 

Although the establishment received abysmal reviews from angry customers claiming that they were unable to get their hands on some of these delicious croissants despite visiting the store several days in a row and for having bad customer service, business is still as good as ever, and the croissants are still being snapped up like hot cakes. 

To savour some of these delicious, molten egg yolk croissants, visit Le Bread Days at 68, Jalan SS2/72, Petaling Jaya. Please call (03) 7932 0868 ahead of time to check on the specific hours that the croissants would be ready to be served.