Last weekend Yusuke and I went to a spring festival held at Montreal’s Japanese Language Center. It was fairly small, but featured excellent food and crafts, along with little games for kids and demonstrations by a karate school and Montreal’s taiko drum group. Yusuke was again impressed at the number of Japanese people in Montreal who turn up for festivals. It’s a small community, but it seems that the majority participates in cultural events like this.
We had heard about the festival from our ex-neighbourhood bakery Boulangerie Pâtisserie Yuki. So visiting their table was definitely on the agenda. Yuki’s creations are always beautiful, and even though we were too full from breakfast to eat anpan, we enjoyed ogling the spread.
Yuki's wares
Anpan and cream pan
Green tea cheesecakes and Mont Blanc pastries
Before going to the matsuri, I had my heart set on daifuku, and I was not disappointed. Daifuku is a soft chewy ball of mochi with some type of filling or flavouring. I chose the ichigo daifuku variety, which is stuffed with sweet anko (red beans) and a juicy strawberry. The outside is coated with powdered sugar, which of course I managed to sprinkle over the table and my black jacket. Yusuke had matcha custard daifuku (wow).
Ichigo daifuku
Ichigo daifuku: bite
Yusuke selected the lunch box below from the many tables of tasty homemade bentos. It had rice, karage (fried chicken), and assorted veggies.
Bento lunch
I couldn’t resist onigiri with umeboshi (picked plum); I’ve been craving that unique tangy taste. I also bought a tuna onigiri for lunch at work later in the week.
Wrapped onigiri
All told, it was a tasty morning.
Chez Yusuke 