Japan Mar 2011 Day 8 – Esprit de Fouquet’s, Kobe
Back to Osaka after a couple of days out in Kyoto and Nara, we’re down to our second last day in Kansai. The original plan was to explore Umeda in northern Osaka but we’d decided against that after passing through the area on the train to Kyoto. Towering skyscrapers and looming office buildings seem to characterise this part of town. Well, it is afterall a commercial hub in Osaka, that reminded us of the western end of Shinjuku. A quick change of plans brought us to Kobe, another coastal city barely an hour from Osaka by train. Kobe, well known for its beef and the great Hanshin earthquake in 1995. Kobe was highly recommended by Chef Lynn Chen, the macaron instructor at Palate Sensations who supposed that the quality of some patisseries and confectioneries in Kobe are on par, if not better than those in Tokyo! Since we were already in Kansai, it seemed wrong not to pop by Kobe for a visit!
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Japan Mar 2011 Day 8 – Le Cordon Bleu Kobe Macarons
I’m “fast forwarding” my Japan posts to bring to you guys the Le Cordon Bleu Macarons from Kobe! “Nan desu de?!” some of you might ask. ‘Cos in barely 2 weeks’ time on 20th March is Le Jour de Macaron aka Macarons Day! This day which celebrates the popular French confectionery was initiated by no other than the man who revolutionised macaron gastronomie, Pierre Hermé. Since its inauguration 7 years ago, Macarons Day is celebrated by many patisseries around France, with notable names like Sadaharu Aoki, Dalloyau, Laurent Duchêne and Jean-Paul Hévin, just to name a few. It has since spread across the Altantic to NYC and Toronto, as well as the rest of the world! And over at Aspiring Bakers, we are having celebrating it for one whole month with “Aspiring Bakers #17 – March Macaron Madness!”
We visited Kobe as a day trip on our second last day in Kansai. It was an impromptu decision actually as we’d initially decided to stay put in Osaka after visiting Kyoto and Nara a couple of days back. But we kinda ran out of places to visit in Osaka, which is pretty much of a business and commercial hub, with much less character and history than its neighbouring cities and towns. So it was off to Kobe for more patisserie hunting!
travellingfoodies 