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Evidence That Cakes, Chocolate And Coffee Descend From Japan

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Coffee beans, according to a lot café signboards, originates in places such as Kenya and Colombia. Brewing methods we normally presume have descended from Europe, hence names such as Viennese and a plethora of Italian-language drink titles. Put your cup down. The brew in it may have been dripped Japanese style, according to discussions of coffee preparation methods in the caffeine-rich city of Taipei.

And just when you thought you thought spongy cakes topped with thick white frosting came from the West, shops in Taipei such as Chiffon and the Nakamura bakeries are billing them as delights from Japan. Another Taipei bakery says its rolls, made from milk and sugar, come from a Hokkaido recipe.

Guess what else carries of a whiff of Japan, even if you’re programmed to think it gets sent from Ghana for processing in places such as Switzerland. That’s right, chocolate. A 3-year-old vendor in Taipei, Yu Chocolatier, labels its popular chocolate mousse desserts “shibusa” a Japanese term meaning something like humble elegance.

How did Japan get to be the source of so much food we might associate with other countries? No one really denies these foods originated in Africa, Europe and the Americas. Japan is still better known for sushi and tempura. But the Asian country is getting credit for at least the formulas for these normally Western foods because its former colony Taiwan is giving it that credit. The labels and stores named above are all in Taipei.

Despite friction between Japan and Taiwan at the start of Tokyo's 50-year colonization that ended in 1945, people here today all but universally like Japan. You see Japanese influence in everything from your morning tea to your children's bedtime stories.

Taiwanese food sellers might use the fellow Asian country's name for marketing since they know local consumers like Japan, which is also a symbol of of product quality. In the chocolate mousse’s case, a customer came up with "shibusa" half a year ago in an event to choose a name the dessert, Yu Chocolatier owner Cheng Yu-hsuan says. The recipe for that mousse and everything else in the shop is French, Yu says.

But Japan has truly recast a number of foreign foods. Casual Internet research shows that it has indeed influenced preparation of cakes (see photo), coffee and chocolate. Now Taiwanese merchants such as bakeries are further tweaking the formulas. Someday they should add Taiwan’s name to the likes of cakes and toast.

“The cakes labeled as Japanese often are, like those fluffy, bouncy 'cheesecakes' or the ones made with Hokkaido cream,” notes Taipei-based blogger and Jenna Cody, who follows food among other topics. “Honey toast, which some people call brick French toast, is also Japanese though some people claim it was invented in Taiwan.” The labels, she says, “often lead people to think all baked goods in Taiwan are Japanese-style, which is not true.”