Sunday, March 22, 2009

bread girl

If I had my druthers I'd eat carbs all day every day. I'm not much into meat, though when my blood sugar gets low, give me some chocolate, a glass of OJ, and some PROTEIN (usually in the form of a glass of milk, some cheese, or crackers and peanut butter).

Anyway, we usually go out on the train somewhere on the weekends (if you've got little boys this is a must because the trains in Japan are super clean and always right on time), and one of our favorite stops is the Kurakuenguchi station. A yummy bakery, Roggen Meyer, just happens to be right across the street, and of course we just have to go in and grab a few bits and pieces for lunchies by the river.

They don't have my to-drool-for (bite-sized and glazed) lemon donuts anymore, but they do have this amazing chocolat orange pastry now that Stephen and I both adore (pictured below). The bitterness of the orange peel on top just goes perfectly with the not-too-sweet chocolate and pastry.

And the sakura (cherry blossom) mochi anpan (rice paste and sweet red bean paste) pastry (pictured above) is perfect for munching by the cherry-tree-lined river (the trees have just started blooming now). The sakura blossom adds a nice salty flavor to the cloyingly sweet red bean paste in the pastry. You just gotta try it. Come on over!

11 comments:

Joie de vivre said...

My boys would love the trains too. Sometimes I take them on the city bus for an outing (probably not as clean as your trains though, but still fun for them)

I was wondering why the dessert was called a Marlow as well. I thought it might have something to do with a shortening of the word Marshmallow?

Reeni said...

MMMMMMMM!!

Ivy said...

Wow, this sounds delicious. Have fun.

K and S said...

yummy! I have tried some of roggenmeyer's breads, they are delish!

Abigail (aka Mamatouille) said...

Joie de vivre - Ah, you're probably right about Marlow! Hey, you should bring your boys to Japan sometime - they'd LOVE the trains here.

Reeni - thanks! :)

Ivy - thanks for your comment! :) Hope you have fun, too - it's beautiful spring weather here now so I'm definitely having fun!

K and S - Did you know there's a big Roggen Meyer in the new Nishinomiya Gardens mall? It's stocked full of goodies!

K and S said...

Is that mall still crazy with people? I want to check it out but without all the mobs of people.

FOODalogue said...

I'm not a bread maker but I am a bread eater...and I'd like to eat one of those.

Lo said...

Very interesting. I've never made friends with red bean paste, but I think that I should :)

Rachael Hutchings said...

Oh my goodness yum!!! SO JEALOUS!

Cate said...

oh. my. god. the bean paste and cherry blossom pastry? i'm DYING. needless to say, we don't get that around these here parts.

and yes, i watched everyone go through that no carbs phase all by themselves. why live if you cannot eat some good carbs each day? seriously.

Abigail (aka Mamatouille) said...

K and S - We went back to Nishinomiya Gardens again yesterday and it was very pleasant - not too many people! I wonder how all those millions of shops are making any money, actually.

Joan - Wish you could try these!

Lo - Many foreigners in Japan see red bean paste and think it will be chocolate, but are shocked when it's not! I still think it's yummy, though.

Fuji Mama - Wish I could send you some!

Cate - These are carb heaven!