If talking about sweets in Japan, I believe that everyone has an impression that Japanese sweets must look beautiful in good packaging and that is something that everyone wants to try when visiting Japan. Because aside from being beautiful and appetizing, there are also flavors and deliciousness that will make you want to try and be fascinated until you can't stop eating.
But it's strange that some types of desserts are not of Japanese origin, such as cheesecake and choux cream. But why these foreign desserts made in Japan are so famous?
Japan has traditional sweets, which in Japanese are called wakashi (和 菓子) and has a culture of eating sweets paired with green tea.
The sweets are often served with matcha green tea during the tea ceremony (茶 の 湯 / Cha-no-yu), especially dry sweets made from sugar, with beautiful shapes and colors, with meticulous preparation. Normally, the wakashi is to be eaten before drinking the green tea. This is considered a tradition of the Japanese people in the ancient era when "sugar” was a scarce and expensive item and was limited to high society with selected dessert makers only.
At that time, the Japanese adapted plants, fruits, seasonal ingredients to be eaten with tea instead, such as persimmons, red beans, soy beans, etc.
When talking about Japanese sweets in our image, mochi, senbei, and red bean paste snacks and etc. Most of the ingredients are local ingredients and then used to make desserts that are sold locally. Most of these Japanese sweets are quite sweet and have to be paired with green tea or black coffee to make the flavor mellow.
“There are as many sweets from the west as much as there are in Japan”, because since Japan opened the country to accept the culture of the Western countries, it has been knowledge transferring in various subjects including culture, eating and baking.
Furthermore, Japan is regarded as a land of agriculture with high quality raw materials from organic farming in many regions, and modern technology is used to develop agricultural products to have good quality without chemicals, therefore, raw materials such as flour, milk, butter, cheese, etc., all of which are raw materials for Western pastries, can all be produced in Japan without importing.
As a result, foreign desserts that are not even of Japanese origin, but as they are being developed and produced in a good quality flavor based on good raw materials such as good water, good flour and good milk, which makes Western-style snacks sold in Japan also taste exceptional.
Author
Uboltip Settasakko
TKLS The Sassy Saitama Lady / The owner of Krobkrueng Japan Page