The French really know how to make pastries. Sure you may think this is a strange way to start a piece about the Ultimate Japanese Treat, but it’s true. It’s also true that the Japanese people (at least here in Tokyo) really seem to have a thing for French pastries.
In every store, bakery, and department store, you’re sure to see many great French styled treats, and the Japanese people seem to eat it up. So just because a culture enjoys and produces treats from another culture does that make French pastries Japanese? The thing is many cultures mix and match they’re styles with foreign foods to make them their own, and Japan is no different. I’ve seen many interesting French treats with Japanese twists, often green tea or red bean is the added.
Even if I was to accept the idea that French treats made here are Japanese, and in many cases they may twist a few ingredients to make them their own. The problem with saying that French pastries are the "Ultimate Japanese Treat" for me is that it’s too broad a category. What I want to know about is which French treats are popular or which have been around the longest before I can even consider one to be the “Ultimate Japanese Treat”
What do you think is the "Ultimate Japanese Treat", is it French?
CC
It had a few pieces of candy memorabilia but for the most part it was just a candy store with only a few treats to choose from. It sold treats from “Captain Santa Candy”, a place I’d never heard of. It looks like it might be Hawaiian but I could be wrong.
Basically it was sherbet in a pouch, this one was lemon lime. It was a fine treat once I got it started. Getting the first bit up through the tube was a challenge and when you’re boiling and want to cool down fast it’s a little frustrating.
It appears to be the salty snack capital of Tokyo; in particular they had a whole bunch of Rice Cracker stalls. Picked up a special one for the book.
Tokyo is just loaded with candy related toys. I’m going to keep showing you guys as much as I can, but there’s just so much everywhere. Not only that but in some cases I’m not 100% sure if it’s candy related or just strange.
I did however see these Meiji chocolate bar puzzle games today and they’re just awesome.
So here I am in Tokyo doing a book about candy and the question I’ve had the whole time is what is the ultimate Japanese treat. I’ve taken the first few weeks of my trip just wondering around looking and observing. I have no complete answer as of yet but I’m starting to get a few ideas.
My first inclination is to look at Pocky. The reason I look at Pocky is because it’s not only Japanese but it’s becoming the Japanese treat known all over the world. But does global recognition make it the Ultimate Japanese treat?
Here in Japan you do find it in just about every store on every corner. In all the major intersections there are adds for it everywhere, both on giants TV’s and on billboards. I’m guessing it’s pretty popular here.
I guess what I’m wondering is just because a candy is popular does that make it the ultimate Japanese treat, how do things like tradition play into the mix?
Also unlike Coke Green Tea, this drink is absolutely disgusting. So gross I couldn’t manage much more than a single sip. It kind of taste like perfume or some kind of Aloe hand moisturiser, but with fizz.
This cookie display may not look like much but the cookie spun around and around like a top. Best of all I think it was solar powered from that little square thing on the left. Even better is the fact that they had a lamp on the solar power square to keep it spinning because there was no sunlight in the shop. Sometimes things are just too cool.
It’s funny I don’t normally think of getting an éclair and when I see them I never think I want one, but the minute I bite into it I’m a happy boy.
I found this Hello Kitty popcorn machine at Toys R Us and it looks horrible. I assume you don’t get the popcorn that Hello Kitty is holding, but just looking at it made me a little sick. I didn’t have any change and I’m kind of glad too. I’m sure the popcorn isn’t the freshest.
Here in Tokyo if you ever want to find an awesome selection of sweet treats you have to go to the department stores.
Head to the basement and you’ll be amazed at what kind of sweets you might find. It’s not the cheapest in the world but man it all looks so tasty.
But they had a bunch of candy related toys that made me hungry too… wait a minute, that’s not really good as much as it’s kind of frustrating.
First of all there’s a full on art gallery in the mall, now this isn’t just some place to get things framed that happens to have a few pieces up, this is a full blown art gallery.
It also has a really impressive roof over the outdoor portion of the mall. So I guess it’s not really an outdoor portion anymore.
It also has benches that look really cool, but don’t really work to their full capabilities.
I went to this mall in search of their fancy fruit store. I went to the fancy fruit store to check out prices for fancy fruit. I’m asking you a favour because I can’t really afford to buy any kind of fancy fruit right now. So What I’m trying to say is, would you folks be so kind as to donate some money towards the “Buy Chris a fancy fruit so he can see if it’s that much better than regular fruit” campaign?
I love this shot, not just because it’s got a nice composition, and not just because the colour worked out so well. I love this shot because I love green jellybeans. They’re in fact my favourite jellybeans of all times.