Newsstand: February 8, 2010
Scale Model City, Actual-Size Grime
Bob Kinnear isn't Greg Kinnear
The Original Fifteen Moves to Metro Hall
Photoist: February 8, 2010
While Easter isn't widely celebrated in Japan even as a commercial holiday, they do produce and export a wide variety of interesting chocolate and candy that is happily available to us in Toronto. If you're looking for last-minute Easter sweets and can't bear the sight of another Allan-brand bunny, try some treats made by long-standing and well-respected companies like Meiji and Morinaga, the latter of which "offers good health with delight & taste."
Both Morinaga and Meiji are ancient by any standard. Morinaga was founded by Taichiro Morinaga in 1899 upon his return to Japan from the United States, and Meiji began a bit later in 1916. Both started by producing Western confectionaries like caramels and moved into milk chocolate in 1918. Almost a hundred years later, they're still developing new products that satisfy tastes both in Japan and abroad.
Of the extensive array of Meiji products, the classic solid milk chocolate bar is the most historically significant; it's been their flagship product ever since its release in 1918. The packaging is plain and simple, reminiscent of the traditional Hershey bar—itself developed at the turn of the century.
If you like nuts, the chocolate-covered almonds and especially the white chocolate–covered macadamia nuts are amazing. Macadamia nuts, imported from Hawaii, are popular in Japan, but may just be the highest calorie food on earth. It's a "sometimes" food.
On the slightly crazier side, Meiji makes chocolate-covered gummies with various fruit centres packaged in a convenient rainstick-like tube. One of the newer Meiji products on the shelves is the "Glucose & Chocolate" whose packaging says: "replenish energy for thinking" and "concentration switch on!"
Sanko carries a few Pocky-like Morinaga items called "koeda"—small branches. Unlike Pocky, which have a pretzel centre, these sticks are made of pure chocolate mixed with crisp rice and cream-based flavours.
Several years ago during the outbreak of SARS, Morinaga made the unfortunate move of releasing DARS, a milk chocolate candy with a fruit yogurt centre.
If you don't have a sweet tooth at all, Glico—the company that makes Pocky—also produces Pretz, savoury pretzel sticks with chip-like flavours. "Salad" is the name of an actual marketed flavour in Japan that tastes somewhat like Cheez Whiz. The tomato ones have a sort of nacho/tomato soup character. The giant Canadian maple-syrup ones are proudly labelled as "Canada Pretz." Canadian maple syrup is well-loved in Japan and available just about everywhere. Is anyone else feeling insecure that the Canada ones are super-sized?
In the downtown core, you can find the largest selections of Japanese snacks at Sanko Trading Co. and T&T Supermarket. Sanko is keeping regular hours throughout the long weekend (Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) as is T&T (9 a.m. to 10 p.m., daily). How can we turn down an offer of good health with delight & taste? Happy Easter!
All photos by Ayngelina Brogan.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
yeah pocky!
miruku (milk) is my favourite flavour of pocky. giant pocky is fun too, if you want to buy a box for about 12 bucks.
also, another spot that has a selection of japanese (and korean, of course) delectable treats is PAT at bloor and manning.
(glico also makes great curry rice mix)
Mmmmmmeiji is great. I also have a serious sweet tooth for their chocolate covered almonds. They're a billion calories per box but so good.
I miss Melty Kiss. And Pokka canned vending machine coffee on the go, as I boarded the train for work.
Speaking of Japanese treats - by chance I've stumbled upon Green Tea Kit Kat at one of the street merchants in Nara and thought it'd be a good thing to try (after all, I like green tea and green tea ice cream). But it turned out to be one weird+bad-tasting Kit Kat. Imagine sweet white chocolate that tastes like green tea ice cream on a waffle bar..... Actually it kinda sounds delicious.... But it isn't.
Pocky >> Green Tea Kit Kat
I grabbed a pack of Pocky with me on the plane to Osaka only to realize that that pack of Pocky traveled all the way from Japan to Toronto's T&T only to be bought by me and brought back to Japan.
I am waiting for my order of five bags of Mikakuto Juntsuyu candy from jbox.com, which I couldn't find at T&T the last time I was there. Also rose-flavoured gum because I was curious and craving Turkish Delight at the time. But I must try those twig confections in the second photo.
This was a neat and unusual post. But I'm biased because I'm an absolute candy freak.
I just discovered that the bubble tea place in St Patrick Market on Queen sells Pocky. I was as excited about my discover as I was disappointed it's Passover.
Next week in Tea Shop 168.
I got addicted to Meiji bars in Seoul. One a day without fail.
Mmmmmm. Pocky. Who cares if this is too late for Easter? I'm totally in on this!
I recall coming across "Men's Pocky" some years ago.
It had a dark green box which I guess was to look suave and gentlemanly.
I think the sticks have a dark chocolate coating.
Otherwise not at all sure what the difference was ...