Hello All!

The subject was introduced in another group but I could not really think
of any traditional Japanese desserts. I know there is tea-flavored Mochi
ice-cream but isn't that a modern invention?

--


James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:14:03 -0400, "James Silverton"
> wrote:

> Hello All!
>
> The subject was introduced in another group but I could not really think
> of any traditional Japanese desserts. I know there is tea-flavored Mochi
> ice-cream but isn't that a modern invention?



I eat very little in the way of dessert, either Japanese or any other
kind, so I don't really know the answer; take my message with a grain
of salt.

But for what it's worth there are a bunch of desserts listed he
http://japanesefood.about.com/librar...cdes_index.htm

--
Ken Blake
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

"James Silverton" > wrote in message
...
> Hello All!
>
> The subject was introduced in another group but I could not really think
> of any traditional Japanese desserts. I know there is tea-flavored Mochi
> ice-cream but isn't that a modern invention?
>


Mochi is very old and traditional but Ice Cream goes back to the 19th
century.
Desserts, as in a sweet finale to a meal, is not traditional in Japanese
cuisine.
Sweets, generally called wa-gashi are traditional but are enjoyed together
with tea, seperate from any meals. The so-called "Japansee pound cake"
Kasutera
which has it's origins in the cakes brought to Japan by the Portugese in the
late
1500s has also evolved into a sweet consumed together with tea.
After meal Desserts (cakes and pastries) became common as part of the
introduction of western foods (you-shoku)
which started at the end of the 19th century. It should be noted that the
desserts in Japan
originally came from Europe; France particularly, and literally "blow the
pants off", for the lack of
a better term, the desserts found in the United States

Musashi

"Desserts, as in a sweet finale to a meal, is not traditional in
Japanese
cuisine. Sweets, generally called wa-gashi are traditional but are
enjoyed together
with tea"


That suits my tastes, too. I don't care for end of meal sweets, but I
like sweets with coffee or tea.

On 2009-06-19 03:51:55 -0700, "Musashi" > said:

> Mochi is very old and traditional but Ice Cream goes back to the 19th
> century. Desserts, as in a sweet finale to a meal, is not traditional
> in Japanese cuisine. Sweets, generally called wa-gashi are traditional
> but are enjoyed together with tea, seperate from any meals. The
> so-called "Japansee pound cake" Kasutera which has it's origins in the
> cakes brought to Japan by the Portugese in the late 1500s has also
> evolved into a sweet consumed together with tea. After meal Desserts
> (cakes and pastries) became common as part of the introduction of
> western foods (you-shoku) which started at the end of the 19th century.
> It should be noted that the desserts in Japan originally came from
> Europe; France particularly, and literally "blow the pants off", for
> the lack of a better term, the desserts found in the United States

I guess there are "sweets" and then there are desserts. I've
encountered many kinds of sweet-bean and jelly-filled items. I'm not
sure whether they are pastry or a rice-type "container". These shops
are at places like Mitsuwa and sell this stuff alone. Right next to it
is another shop that sells these cookies in tins as well as tea. I
believe all of this stuff is to be eaten with tea, or perhaps given to
a child to eat without proper tea. A "sweet", but not a dessert.

The European-style desserts Musashi refers to above are found
everywhere in Japan and simply look like extravagantly well-stocked
French bakeries. And it's true they have French pastry NAILED. When
in Japan we frequently eat breakfast by stopping at one of these shops
and getting a couple of pastries and exceptional coffee.

I don't think than in the Japanese dining tradition it makes sense to
finish the meal with a dessert the way we think of it in the west,
whether cookies/cake, ice-cream, fruit dishes or cheese. It just
doesn't seem right. But then we don't eat dessert in our household at
all (no children).

When in a Japanese sushi bar we sometimes finish the meal with a piece
of tamago. No sauce or anything, just a simple piece of the sweetened
folded egg they make.
--
Dogmatism kills jazz. Iconoclasm kills rock. Rock dulls scissors.

Chocolate cake is a proper ending (or beginning) to any foods.
------------
There are no atheists in foxholes
or in Fenway Park in an extra inning
game.
____

Cape Cod Bob

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