Little bits and pieces of my 3 favourite things in Fukuoka
From Tugi, a favourite shop of mine: a beautiful white hydrangea namagashi topped with dew drops and filled with tart plum paste. The filling was one of the most surprising and interesting I’ve had in a while- in a very good way! Even the texture of the outside was different, a bit more firm than usual. Beautiful and delicate and delicious as always!
Another rainy day, but the sun came out eventually and I walked over to Kichi Zoh・吉蔵. There are the cutest little flowers crawling on the roof, and they were so bright after the rain. A wagashi shaped as a new leaf around coarse red bean paste・tsubu an・粒餡 with a little raindrop on top. This must be one of the first tsubu an sweets I’ve had from them, it was a pleasant surprise!
This namagashi is a perfect imitation of a Japanese apricot, or anzu・杏子. It was filled with white bean paste and was just absolutely the mirror image of a real one. I got a new wagashi knife or kashikiri・貸切 from a cute little shop nearby.
This week has been the Golden Week holidays, a time when several national holidays fall closely together so most people get about a week off. A friend came to visit and we explored around outdoors as much as we could. Yesterday was really the first day back home so I had 2 little treats from Kichi Zoh. A beautiful purple iris namagashi and purple 団子・dango with red bean, white bean and purple sweet potato wrapped around soft mochi.
I got some really beautiful flowers that I cannot name at the florist. The blues and purples are a fun departure from my usual palette. Imagine my surprise coming home and finding I am growing raspberries! My giant branch is a raspberry bush! At the florist where I bought it, the shop owner told me the flowers would quickly wilt but the branch would last several months. She didn’t mention anything about bearing fruit! I can’t wait for my little harvest.
Another one from Kogetsudo・湖月堂, this time featuring some pretty grocery store flowers. I made the vase last week! I designed the shape digitally and uploaded it to a laser printer to cut out the wood.
I love it! Hard to beat a sweet, sunny day with a nice walk and flowers everywhere.
It is officially full bloom, or man kai・満開 for sakura season. I celebrated with the prettiest sakura and red bean namagashi・生菓子 from Kichi Zoh. Soon the petals will start falling and it will be beautiful as well but I’m hoping for a couple more days.
Another sunny spring day, another namagashi from Kichi-Zoh. I cut the little guy down the middle, so you can see a peak of the red anko paste inside, its just as smooth and creamy as the exterior.
Almost everywhere I look when I walk around near my apartment is bright forsythia. I brought some into my apartment to brighten things up a bit as it’s been a little rainy and cloudy. A colourful little spring namagashi was the perfect match (from Rabbit Moon・兎月).
Another double feature day. This time, featuring new plants! A clover and a strawberry plant. From Kichi-Zoh・吉蔵, a daffodil namagashi and forsythia gelatin sweet. At the risk of hyperbole, Kichi-Zoh has the best namagashi in the world. There’s something about the texture that really sets in above nearly everything else in terms of a classic namagashi. So happy and lucky to be so close to it.
