I wrote last year about the delicious Japanese castella cake (カステラ) that originated in Nagasaki and the port-city's history with the Portuguese. Originally called pão de Castela in Portuguese, it's similar to today's pão-de-ló, and the product I tried was made by 文明堂 (Bunmeidō). I just returned from another trip to Japan (again for some skiing with the family), and this time I was able to try another brand called 福砂屋 (Fukusaya, literally meaning House of Sugar of Good Fortune).
It turns out that 文明堂 (Bunmeidō) is a relative newcomer to the カステラ (kasutera) industry, being in business only since 1900. Bunmeidō however had a breakout moment in the 1960s with the help of a bizarre TV ad. Five dancing kittens sing to Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld:
Castella is number one.
The telephone is number two.
It’s Bunmeido for the 3 o’clock snack.
If you have any Japanese friends of a certain age, try asking if they remember this ad...
福砂屋 (Fukusaya), on the other hand, was founded in 1624 in Nagasaki (長崎), about 80 years after the Portuguese first came into contact with Japan. Nagasaki itself was founded in 1571 by priests and sailors from Portugal with the permission of the Japanese lord 大村純忠 (Ōmura Sumitada). One of the most significant impacts of the establishment of exchanges was the introduction of handheld guns, but another is the incorporation of new types of food, including pão de Castela.
The Fukusaya castella cake came with an insert, and the historical woodblock print it featured spelled the product as カステイラ (kasuteira) instead of today's カステラ (kasutera). The description of Fukusaya's history (in Japanese) included the following lines at the beginning:
Since our store was founded in 1624, it has been called Fukusaya for generations and has continued to pass down the family recipe for Nagasaki castella to this day.
At that time, around the beginning of the Kan'ei era, Japanese and Portuguese people lived together in the city of Nagasaki, and there was a great deal of interaction between them until Dejima was completed in 1636.
The early Fukusaya must have had the opportunity to learn how to make Nanban (南蛮) sweets such as castella directly from the Portuguese.
Dejima (出島) is an artificial island that was created by cutting the tip off of a small peninsula with a canal. From 1636 until their expulsion in 1639, the Portuguese were confined to the island by the Tokugawa (徳川) shogunate in order to limit the social and religious influence of the foreigners. The Dutch, who replaced the Portuguese as Japan's exclusive European trading partner, were subsequently confined to Dejima as well in 1641, and remained there for over two centuries until 1858. Dejima is today a historical site with excellent exhibits that are definitely worth a visit.
It is therefore interesting to note that the introduction of castella cake took place in the first period of Japan's interaction with Europeans, when the Portuguese were relatively free to move around and mingle with the Japanese. That kasutera remains very popular in Japan today, and is even featured as an iconic product at airports, speaks to the deep influence that the Portuguese have had.
P.S. For the record, the Fukusaya kasutera was more expensive than Bunmeidō's, and slightly more delicious. I guess the extra 276 years of history gives Fukusaya the edge!
Comments