Ready to bake a cake? Then grab one of the famous pink packs of Alsa baking powder, known in France as levure chimique or levure alsacienne. Unlike most American brands, Alsa is single-acting, which means that it creates the gas needed for leavening as soon as it is mixed with liquid ingredients.

The double-acting powders that are common in the U.S. release gas in two stages: first when mixed with liquid ingredients and then when heated. The Alsa brand was founded in 1897 by Emile Moench, born in Alsace four years after the region had been ceded to Germany following the war of 1870-1871.

Moench worked first as an aide cuisinier for the wagons-lit and then went to Vienna to perfect his craft. It was there, working for a baker, that he first came to know of baking powder, then still under development (baking powder was invented by the German August Oetker in 1891).

He took the knowledge with him back to France, where he opened a small fine food shop and sold flans and cakes made with the product. Eventually he opened a factory in Nancy to produce the baking powder commercially. The pink packets have always featured a woman in Alsatian head dress; a stork, symbol of Alsace, also appears at times. Each sachet contains about 1 tablespoon of baking powder.