Egraphsen
Stephanie Cullingford
Theatrical Design
Sakuraco
Box Six - August 2021
Part One
August 4th
As you might have guessed, given how very... slowly... the... install...ments... for the last two boxes arrived, I can't say I've really beeing feeling all this writing. I was thinking of reducing how much I was reviewing, only doing one page per box, only the things we havent seen before (in all honesty, I probably will write very little about doriyaki in the future - it's a pancake, what more would you like me to say? But, after the wettest winter in twenty-five years that has finally moved to Djilba, there are almond blossoms and poppy flowers in the front garden, and clear skies above (and freezing starry nights -brrrrr!)
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Almond Blossoms
Again, I was more rugged up than dressed up while opening my box, but I did wear my beautiful tomesode as a coat to High Tea with a friend a few weeks ago (bizarrely, tea was not included). As we wandered the city afterwards, there were a lot of teenagers in Japanese dress as well, and I feel like if Naruto is allowed to wander around, so is my tomesode.
Winter citrus and Jonquils
Details of my tomesode
I suddenly have a much greater appreciation on
how difficult kimono are to photograph!
Mon
depicting leaves of some sort
Self-lined: this is the inside!
The Box:
The Magazine and Postcard:
This month's theme is Okinawa - Okinawa is an island/ Prefecture in the Ryukyu islands which "became a vassal state of Japan in the 17th century" (- The Story of the Kimono, by Jill Liddel), and I think we all know enough about historical euphemism to know what that means. Okinawa is famous for it's fabric decoration style of bingata. Bingata is a stencil-dying technique, traditionally in warm earth tones, and was used to pay tribute to the Japanese Emperors. It is similar to the 'mainland' technique of katazome - both use fine blades to cut out intricate designs out of thick specialised paper. A resist paste (i.e. something that resists the dye) is applied into the stencil, then the stencil is removed, dye is applied to the shapes within. Once dry, the resist is removed to leave a white outline (think lead-lighting or stained glass windows). As a general rule, Katazome designs are packed tightly together and 'support' each other; bingata tends to use larger planes of colour, and can also use double resist and over-dying to create greater depths, shades, tones and gradients of colour. Yellow, in particular was the base colour for the Emperors of Ryukyu. As for what bingata means
"Kanjun Higashionna (1882-1963) thought the name came from Bengal, India, where the fabric was assumed to have originated. Finally, Keisuke Serizawa (1895-1984), a dyework artisan, said that bingata meant "colored designs," as he believed that "bin" meant colors and "kata" (or gata) meant designs."
- taken from here
Being a textile nerd, it is definitely a dear wish of mine to own a piece of bingata cloth (preferably a kimono) - or katazome, I'm not picky.
The cover of the magazine shows the turquoise waters of the Okinawa seashore - and excessively rough looking rock. Not my idea of a lazy day at the beach.
Sakura Pattern Owan bowl
The Owan/Bowl is a nice, very traditional looking piece (or at least what we think of when we think of traditional Japanese ware ... rabbit hole... descending...) that mimics Japan's famous laquerware (in fact, lacquered objects in Victorian times, and later, were refered to as 'Japaned'). Red on the inside, black on the outside, with a pretty cherry blossom motif. It's about 10.5 cm in diameter, 7 cm tall, and is dishwasher and microwave friendly! Whoo-Hoo! My only criticism is, well, sakura blossoms are a bit obvious. Japan has a major culture of signiture flowers for each month, and the sakura is not the flower of August, or even of summer. Pity.
So, here we go! Sakuraco Box Six - Explore Okinawa - Beni Imo (purple potato)!
The Food:
Brown Sugar Manju
If you can't remember back all the way to June (Part 1) Manju are cakes, similar to mochi in that they have a filling, usually of azuki or chestnut, but instead of glutinous rice are made of wheat, buckwheat or another flour (I'm going with wheat in this one as it's listed in the allergens). They're also steamed, which, like bagels (which are boiled) gives them a chewy, resilient texture. The packaging is nice and classy, showing off bingata patterns (note the gradients), with a strong tropical vibe. Okinawa is the most southerly prefecture, and in unique in many ways, most stemming from it's warmer, more tropical location - this is where they grown sugar cane, and the brown sugar smell is noticable instantly, along with a soy-sauce scent - meaty and hearty. There's a small amount of this in the filling, but mostly it's a dense bitter-sweet caramel brown sugar taste, probably bulked out with a azuki. It's different, but I like it.
Beni imo Pie
The magazine provides a lot of information about the purple sweet potato (introduced from China, easier to grow in Okinawa than rice). It also tells us that while beni imo 'means' purple potato, what it translates to is 'red potato' - as beni is an old word for crimson - it's also the name of the red paint used by geisha on their lips and eyes made from safflower petals. If you wondering why purple would be confused with red, try book. Now, I am not a big fan of vegetables used in sweet contexts - a relative of ours (American) makes pumpkin pie at Christmas, and if he doesn't, my sister makes it. Doesn't maker how much sugar is added, it tastes like a vegetable. Same with middle eastern candied pumpkin desserts - kabak tatlisi. I like sweet potato chips though... As you can see, the packaging is simple and a very dark violet, with lilac accents
The pie is golden brown and striped, kept safe with a little tray. The word 'pie' is a bit misleading, as sausage roll would probably have been closer to the shape. There is a strong, salty-butter smell, again with that hearty soy-sauce smell. The pastry is dry and slightly crunchy, but the filling is slightly bland. It's definitely got azuki in it as I found a skin, but it lacks the usual taste of azuki. It is decidedly purple, however.
Mini Salted Tofu Chips
I don't mind tofu - silken tofu makes a wonderful mousse, and provided firm tofu is not over-cooked it's very pleasant (I'm reading a biography on Mrs. Beeton, so please forgive me if I sound a trifle Victorian). These are thinly sliced and deep fried and salted. Like potato chips, they don't really have any flavour of their own, apart from the salt, but they are deliciously crispy. I really like the cute little soy beans on the packaging (and I forgot to get a picture of the actual chips - needless to say, they look a lot like the picture in the magazine.
Yuzu Monaka
There's a few citrus treats in with the beni imo, and this one is a monaka that looks identical to the 'Summer Citrus Monaka' (Hyuganatsu) in box four - pretty much could have reused the photo. Like all monaka, it smells like monaka, with a hint of citrus. Of course, I know that yuzu is quite bitter, so I was expecting that. Mostly, however, it was just a soft white bean/ citrus paste, with a very strong bitter citrus flavour weaving through - by no means dominant. The packaging was simple, citrus coloured and with a cut yuzu - displaying the chrysanthemum-cum-citrus shape
Issa Cracker
The Issa Crackers have a really strong look to them, with their name printed on them in bright white icing, they really don't need an over blown package - and they don't get one - clear plastic with a simple lable in red, and behold their chic mossy glory. The crackers are covered in an ultra-fine, almost pulversied layer of seaweed, held in place with thin icing. The biscuit - yes, I know it says cracker, but this is more like pastry than a cracker. It's really, really odd. The closest thing I can think of that it resembles is an Arnott's Lattice biscuit - almost, but not quite like puff pastry, almost like wafer fine sheets of meringue. Unique. The seaweed gives it a soft ... seaweed (duh) ... smell, but not overpowering or fishy. It really is crazy fine, like flocking powder, or grass powder for making miniature train-sets. The biscuits are quite thick, much thicker than any cracker I've come across, but it is mostly air - a crunchy fluff. It has a sweet caramelised taste, but sweet-and-seaweed is not really a combo I can see catching on, it's not bad, it's just not right.
Snow Salt Chinsuko
Because nothing says 'summer' like a bikini on a pasty biscuit...
Now, I may question the design process that lead them to this conclusion, but the packaging is very cute, the back decorated with blue beachballs/ circles that give a fun summer look. Chinsuko are a traditional Ryukyu biscuit made chiefly from lard, flour and sugar, so they look and taste like a chunky short bread. Interestingly, 'chin' means 'rare/gold' in Okinawan, so perhaps they should be a little more golden... (this link shows some coloured with beni imo).
I'm not usually a huge fan of shortbread either the kind that turns up in tartan tins, or on plastic plates covered with gladwrap at Christmas time (i.e. bought or homemade) and when it comes to a bought butter biscuit, I prefer the Danish ones with the sugar on top. I dare say, if these were being judged on Bake-Off, some pretentious So-and-So would declare they're not made properly as the sugar has not been creamed into the butter so as to dissolve.
I like them crunchy.
I also like their flamboyant or wavey edge and the sweet/salty butter taste. I reminds me of being a child and sneaking batter from the bowl, before the eggs were added.
Gives a whole new dimension to Zuccinis in Bikinis
Lightly Salted Red Bean Manju
You get three of these manju in one clear package - and I might wonder if that was strictly necessary, or whether they could have been done in a single strip (since the outer package is - design-wise, unnecessary). The individual wrapings are on the elegant side of simple: sky blue bands at either end, fading to nothingness and set with tiny white flowers, the product name in between in a bold, flourishing hand.
One of the things I love about these boxes, is you're never quite sure what you're going to get: there are three types of manju in this box alone. They're totally different to each other. If I only had one on which to base the whole 'species' I couldn't be more inaccurate. I suppose that's probably what non English speakers think when they try shortbread, gingerbread and fairy-bread!
These manju just don't look quite real.
They're so smooth and perfect, like a model, or something from a dolls house. They look like the world's most perfect loaf of bread, exactly the right size to take on a teddybear's picnic when you're six in some delightfully twee English children's book.
Ahem.
They also smell really nice, with a charming custard-eggy vanilla smell, probably helped by the red bean. The manju-bread outer layer is very thin, just enough to cover the azuki in the middle. This has a pleasant spice, not a pie-spice, but a vanilla spice. I think that's generally how I prefer my azuki, when it's vanilla notes are strongest. The centre is dense, with a hint of bitterness. The salt is, indeed, lightly done and I don't really notice it - possibly it's just there to bring out the flavour. In addition to the vanilla spice, it is well rounded with hints of woody or smoked tastes. Yes, I really enjoyed eating these, and despite the fact that the three are individually wrapped - they're all gone now!
The tiler came today, the electrician is coming tomorrow - yay! cooktop! And my next box is coming tomorrow... yay! drat...
