Hi All,
Thanks to everyone for your continued support and positive feedback...and most of all your patience for each of our reviews. It’s been a hectic week, however, we thought we'd have some fun while doing this article.
Well, it’s that time of year again. Rabbits, chickens and egg hunts... that’s right, we're talking about Easter. I know some of you may be thinking, what the heck does Easter have to do with Sushi, after all it’s not a Japanese tradition. Well "Fiona" you certainly have your "ethnicity" finger on the buzzer for that one. You can be sure to "bank" your money on the fact that modern Japan is very open to celebrating Western traditions, however when it comes to Easter in Japan, Fiona's sangria-red hair would be considered the "highlight" of the day.
What more is there to say about Easter in Japan?
Well, let’s see, not forgetting the seriousness of the holiday, the fun side of Easter is of course the enjoyment of all things sweet and yummy. And since we love sushi and chocolate, we thought it would be a good idea to see what’s out there in terms of sweet and creamy. Of course our focus on savouries with a sushi-related theme has made this a rather complicated task. Yes, for once we decided to kick it with Vin Diesel and do some Tokyo drifting off the road of Japanese authenticity. But instead of NOS we purged our taste-budding-engines with 100% liquid cocoa, orange rind and vanilla essence. Hanaya Yohei, the godfather of sushi is probably turning in his grave, but hey, we're a rainbow nation, so loosen those ties and kick off your jester-pointy Carducci shoes.
Our search for sushi-sweets was really hard going. Unlike overseas ventures, treats of this nature and design are really hard to find locally. One could try your hand at following a few such recipes online, however, we were looking for some fairly established local websites, bakers, chocolatiers and/or confectioners who may have produced such unique confectionery or dessert items. Needless to say the pickings we far and few between, and no samples were forthcoming. Some bakers and confectioners offered us some ideas, and were even willing to try their hand at some custom-made savouries, however requesting an upfront deposit was a bit of a put off.
So we had to kick it up a coca-bean or two and look at fine local chocolatiers such as Heugonot Fine Chocolates, The Chocolate Studio, Delux Chocolate, Fouche Chocolates, Kigis Chocolate and Candies, The Chocolate Tree and Taylor and Finlay Chocolatiers. However none of them offered anything sushi-related or appropriate for this themed post, except for Nicolas's . Here we found exquisite treats far beyond the scope of our article. Nicolas is certainly a very imaginative and super impressive pastry chef. His passion for his work really shines through in each of his dishes, so be sure to leave room for dessert if ever you are in the area. Located at The Castle Kyalami, this Pastry-Wizard also offers practical training and skills programmes in this fine art. We have sampled some of his work below. See if you can spot a sushi-theme in each of these desserts...without drooling too much over your keyboard.
(pictures compliments of )
Looking abroad we found many offerings in all sorts of sweet-related categories. Of note was a Japanese ice-cream dessert as provided for by Chika from the blog, "" in Japan. This Japanese-themed dessert platter consists of ice-creams presented and complimented by sweet-bean curd, jelly’s and pastries. Don’t you wish your morning breakfast salad looked something like this?
(pictures compliments of Chika from )
Further abroad we have the very well known sushi-candy and cookie manufacturer, . These girls have been in business since 1995 and have consistently been producing sweet sushi treats in all forms. Their range is broad with items varying from apricot row (like a salmon roe), lemon egg (like a tamago), fruit-o-maki (like a maki - rolled sushi) and many more. Each "sushi" ingredient is hand crafted and offers a unique taste. These wonderful treats are packaged in classical or asian themed gift boxes.
Well we hope this article has brought you some insight, and more importantly inspiration for enjoying, if not creating delectable sushi-themed desserts and snacks. I wonder if sushi-candy and such unique desserts will ever be a hit in South Africa. Regardless, we're always open for sample taste-testing. And folks, don’t worry, winter is slowly creeping up on us, you're going to need all those extra "sweet-stores" to keep warm anyways. So enjoy your Easter-binging weekend, regret it on Monday, and buy your April Mens Health or Shape magazine on Tuesday to stir you back onto the Canderel highway – Grant
