Sweet Seasons/June 2006 - Hydrangea -

I know. It’s the last day of the month, AGAIN. And you know what? This time the photos were already ready in the middle of June. But for some reason, I kept posting about other foods and had this one wait… and now, it’s the end of the month. Anyway, here’s the wagashi for this month. Hydrangea This wagashi is categorized as kinton, which is typically made by coating a ball of an (sweet bean paste) with colorful flakes also made with an. The flakes of an are called soboro and they are made by passing koshian (sieved sweet bean paste) through a coarse sieve. Often yam or kanten gelatin is added to give the soboro a little different texture. To see the photos showing the kinton-making procedures, click here. Instead of being molded in certain shapes, kinton represents seasonal themes, even including shapeless things or sceneries, with the gradation of differently-colored soboro. These are some examples of kinton and seasonal themes. (Click on the themes to see how they are expressed with kinton.) autumn leaves scattered showers in deep mountains in late autumn cold winter wind treading wheat nanohana flowers spring haze * This is my favorite. wisteria first frost snow in deep mountains (two photos in the first row) Hydrangea is a gift of the nature that adds elegant colors to our gray and depressive rainy season in Japan. It is a popular wagashi theme for June, and often hydrangea wagashi is topped with some tiny pieces of clear kanten jelly which represent the dews on the flowers. Wagashi by Ogasawara Categories: Wagashi