A Week of Sweeties

Kyoto shifted surprisingly, unseasonably, into spring for a few days and they have been beautiful - the afternoons warm baths of sunshine. The bank of the Kamo river was all of a sudden dotted with sunbathers, musicians practicing, and couples strolling, and in the local temple, the white plum blossoms have burst from their buds like puffs of cream. Needless to say it has been very hard to stay confined to my desk and to work on a report in this lovely weather.

Now, a less desirable outcome of the blog challenge has made its presence known. Yes. The progeny of pumpkin croquettes lodged in the backs of my thighs, which my massage teacher so kindly brought to my attention during class. When I reported this indignity, indignantly, to R he looked at me blankly, absorbed as he was at the deep-fryer, and said 'what's cellulite'? And then we had proceeded to have a jolly time cooking and eating maitake mushroom croquettes, a variation on last week's recipe. I must claim, though, in my defense, that desk potato status might have something to do with my apparently shocking thighs, and not just plain old-fashioned food-loving (but what's wrong with that, anyway?).

Still, it turned out to be more fat-inducing fried goodies and sweets for the rest of the week. I got the famous miso castella cake I mentioned a couple of weeks ago (see photo above). It was very good - the castella is tender and sweet; the miso a little sticky and slightly bitter. It's baked fresh each day and sold at Masuya Tobe next to Daitokuji temple. I went to buy it immediately as an antidote to turning in my report to the university (in a rather dispirited mood, as put through the Japanese academi-speak translation washer it came out a funny colour, washed of all significance, and shrunken - as usual). Anyway, in addition to this indulgence, I was also given some mugwort - of the blog title! - sweets, as a souvenir from Mount Shigi. Mugwort dango, which are squishy spheres of rice with a slightly medicinal but pleasant herby taste (photo 2, above, covered in azuki bean paste).

Daigaku imo, the next depravity of the week - literally “university potatoes”, or unitaters (as I've named them) could almost be considered healthy if you're spare with the syrup, as they do run the risk of drowning in their glaze (as you can see, mine are sitting in a pool of syrup). Only fraction of what I prepared is enough for a snack, and though they are meant to be a kind of cheap casual student grub (hence the name) I think they would be really nice as tsumami (nibbles) and served with powdered green tea. A friend in Tokyo sent me this beautiful book on temple cuisine last week. I only hope my attempts will be just as beautiful as the dishes in the photos, and that (rather get me to a temple than a gym) what looks to be a new interest may set me in a slightly healthier direction!