The Buche de Noel cake comes from an old European tradition of burning a huge log at the winter solstice to end the year and bring good luck, and later during the Christmas season to celebrate Christmas. It’s a little unclear when exactly people started making cakes instead of burning giant logs, but it seems to be connected to houses and fireplaces becoming smaller. The French name and the use of thinly rolled sponge cake points to 19th century France. In any case, at some point, people started to replace their wood yule logs with delicious cakes and now everyone can enjoy them!
Japanese Buttercream (バタークリーム) is pretty much like European buttercream. Soft butter is mixed into a sweet meringue with flavoring such as vanilla or liqueur. Buttercream cakes used to be very popular in Japan. Ever since whipped heavy cream cakes emerged in the 1970s, though, buttercream cakes were eclipsed and have become next to nonexistent today. That may be because Japanese people tend to like lighter and less sweet cakes, and they think buttercream cakes are overly sweet and heavy.
Agedashi Tofu (Agedashidofu) is deep-fried Tofu blocks in savory Dashi sauce. It is one of the most popular appetizers at restaurant bars in Japan, but also a great home-cooking dish. Freshly fried Tofu in a very hot, soup like sauce will warm you up in a cold season.
Macaroni Gratin is a casserole dish with macaroni and creamy white sauce that is a popular western style dish in Japan. Piping hot Macaroni Gratin is a perfect food for warming up during a cold winter.
Choux Cream (シュークリーム) is a cream filled dessert and one of the very popular western style sweets in Japan. It is better known as a cream puff in the US, and choux a la creme in France. Japanese Choux Cream has a softer, chewier choux shell than the French one. It is one of the most beloved sweets of all time from the young to the old.
Japanese Beef Steak is very close to western steaks except for the sauce. The sauce is a soy sauce based sauce, a little bit like Teriyaki sauce but maybe less sweet. Even though Japanese people typically don’t eat big steaks as often as people in the US, the dish is still one of their favorites.
Tsukudani is usually seafood or seaweed strongly flavored with Soy Sauce. Tsukudani made from Nori (Roasted Seaweed) is one of the most popular ones. Nori Tsukudani is a black paste and may not look very appetizing for people who are not familiar with it, but it is a surprisingly tasty accompaniment for Steamed Rice.
Kinoko Gohan is a kind of Takikomi Gohan, seasoned steamed rice with meat and vegetables. For Kinoko Gohan we use mushrooms (kinoko). The Umami savory taste and aroma from mushrooms are absorbed into the rice while it cooks, which makes the dish so delicious.
Satsumaimo Amani is sweet potato cooked in sweet syrup. It is a great small side dish or snack. Satsumaimo Amani is not something you eat at restaurants, but it is often made at home in the fall.
Satsumaimo, Japanese sweet potatoes, are in season in fall and winter, so Satsumaimo is the taste of fall in Japan. They are purple outside and yellow inside, dense and sweet, different from western yams which are usually orange inside. Because of the sweet taste, Satsumaimo is used in many desserts, like simple baked potatoes or more complicated sweet potato cakes. Satsumaimo are used for savory dishes too, such as using them in Tempura or adding to Miso Soup. The sweetness of the potatoes and salty seasonings complement each other very well.
Coffee Jelly (コーヒーゼリー) is a cold jellied dessert made throughout Japan from black coffee and gelatin. As Coffee Jelly is not too sweet, although you can adjust the sweetness however you like, and rather light, it is a perfect after dinner dessert.