To suit the tastes of Japanese people, mizuame syrup was added to the sponge cake to make it more moist, and zarame (coarse sugar) was added to the bottom to give it a coarser texture.
Etymology
The word "castella" is derived from the Portuguese Bolo de Castela, meaning "cake from Castile".
Its closest relative is
pão-de-ló, a Portuguese cake.
Pão-de-ló can be in turned derived from the
France Pain de lof or
Gâteau de Savoie.
Similar European sponge cakes also reference Spain in their names, such as in , in , in , in , in , in , and in . Castile was a former kingdom of Spain, comprising its north-central provinces, thus these names are quasi-synonymous with "bread from Castile".
History
In the 16th century, the Portuguese reached Japan and soon started trade and missionary work. Nagasaki was then the only Japanese port open for foreign commerce. This exchange, called the
Nanban trade, brought many new things to Japan. The Portuguese introduced things such as
guns,
tobacco,
, and cakes baked with wheat flour, eggs, and milk.
Castella cakes could be stored for a long time, and so were useful for the sailors who were out on the sea for months. In the Edo period, in part due to the cost of sugar, castella was an expensive dessert to make despite the ingredients sold by the Portuguese. When the Emperor of Japan's envoy was invited, the Tokugawa shogunate presented them with castella cakes.[Bunmeidou History of Castella [1] ] Over the years, the taste changed to suit Japanese palates.
Varieties
There are now many varieties made with ingredients such as
matcha,
brown sugar,
chocolate, and
honey. They may be molded in various shapes; a popular
matsuri food is
baby castella, a bite-sized version.
jp]], castella cake filled with yōkan (sweet bean jelly), was popular in the Meiji era; it had a resurgence since it appeared in the 2013 animated film The Wind Rises, by Hayao Miyazaki.
Castella mix is used for the pancakes that are sandwiched together with sweet adzuki bean paste in the confection known as dorayaki.
Bunmeido Oyatsu-Castella.jpg|Regular and chocolate castella
Castella.jpg|Strawberry castella
Siberia2.jpg|Castella with yōkan, called "Siberia" in Japan
Peach castella.jpg|Peach castella
Taiwanese castella
Castella were first introduced to Taiwan during the age of Taiwan under Japanese rule. In 1968, Ye Yongqing, the owner of a Japanese bakery in Taipei named
Nanbanto, partnered with the Japanese company
Nagasaki Honpu to establish a castella business.
Taiwanese style castella () is generally more soufflé-like than the Japanese variety, with a custard like center.
In South Korea, Taiwanese castella cake was briefly a fashionable food item until its popularity collapsed due to an oversaturation of cake shops and accusations of excess cooking oil in the cakes.
File:Taiwanese Castella.jpg
File:Taiwanese Castella 1.png
File:Taiwanese Castella 2.png
File:Taiwanese Castella 3.png
File:Taiwanese Castella 4.png
File:ファミマの台湾カステラ.jpg
Popular culture
In
Tomihiko Morimi's novel
The Tatami Galaxy (四畳半神話大系,
Yojōhan Shinwa Taikei) and its anime adaptation, castella cake is a recurring element.
The protagonist, a Kyoto University student, often encounters slices of castella, which serve as a symbol of his university life and the choices he faces in various parallel universes. The presence of castella highlights its cultural significance in Japan and its association with moments of reflection in the narrative, emphasizing the impact of different life paths on his experiences.
Main manufacturers
See also
External links
