Green tea

Saturday Tetsu and I took his mother out to lunch. She really balks at going out. She doesn't feel well, she will be too slow eating, she doesn't want people to see her. The excuses are endless. But it was a nice day and Tetsu finally convinced her. We had a quiet lunch which she really seemed to enjoy and afterwards we had dessert. Hmmm! Yummm!

Tetsu and I had matcha paraits and Tetsu's mom had matcha anmitsu. Matcha, for anyone who doesn't know (but I think Starbucks serves matcha nowadays) is powdered green tea and it has a very strong GREEN flavor. Traditionally it is served hot and frothy (whisked with a brush) in a deep bowl and Japan's tea culture is rooted in matcha. It used to be unthinkable to add sweeteners but nowadays matcha ice cream is a favorite in Japan (Hagen Daz, 31 flavors, Cold Stone) and the specialty shops such as the one we visited, have matcha cake, matcha jello, matcha sherbet, matcha whipped cream and matcha sauce.

I ordered the very tame matcha parfait but I could have had a scoop of sweet bean paste added to this or some cubes of cake. You can see the scoop of bean paste, some rice balls (made of rice flour) and some cubes of gelatin made of seaweed, in the anmitsu that Tetsu's mother enjoyed.

DROOL, Leiya!