In the tea lesson this week, sea shells
were brought in front of me. Sea shell
for sweets!? The guests smiled as they
were looking at them. I’m often surprised
with the beauty of confectionery, but this time I was surprised with its unpredictability,
the playful idea.
I opened the shell. There was not any actual meat inside, and it was
filled with golden jelly. I scooped it by
using the other empty shell and put it into my mouth. It was indeed sweet. Its flavor stimulated a Japanese pure caramel
candy. The dark brown part in the center
gave a change in the flavor as I tasted it.
It is miso, fermented bean
paste. The slightly salty and
distinctive flavor of miso harmonized the roasted sugar flavor from the
beginning.
It was very interesting and unique
confectionery that I had ever tried. It
is made in Kyoto. Serving this type of
sweets might not be common in the tea ceremony, but I love the idea to give
your guests a bit of surprise. Have you
ever tried any confectionary that amused you with a surprise?
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Wow! I have never seen anything like that -- sounds great!
ReplyDeleteThere is a sweet kind of jelly that comes in a tube, and you push it out of the tube through something that has holes in it, and the jelly becomes like noodles. It comes with a sweet syrup to pour over it. I think it is a common sweet, but the first time I saw it I was very amused =)
Is the one you had Japanese sweets? I have tried something similar. (http://everyonestea.blogspot.jp/2009/07/sweets-of-day-jul-22.html) The action to push the sweet out from the tube is interesting, isn’t it?
DeleteAh yes, that's the one! Yes, it was from a Japanese sweet shop.
DeleteWhat a lovely sweet! I wish we had the variety of sweets available here that you do in Japan.
ReplyDeletePlease visit Japan someday and try our sweets (^^)
DeleteSo beautiful! What a great idea.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite surprise was a dark chocolate that had cinnamon and chili inside, it's a wonderful flavour combination.
Cinnamon and chili! That's so interesting and I don't think I can find that kind taste in Japanese sweets. I want to try that chocolate.
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