james test

I've been a bit unsure of the green tea chocolate and consequently it has lurked in the cupboard, half-forgotten, for several months. The first bite was intensely herbal and a little bitter. This was not at all what I wanted from chocolate! Once that subsided I was able to appreciate the subtle sweetness and the perfect buttery texture as I chewed. I surprised myself by reaching for a second piece and tripped from revulsion to compulsion once again. I still can't work out whether I enjoyed the ride. What I'm certain of is that Matt did brilliantly to include this uniquely Japanese snack in his collection of Tokyo treats.

Even though this Tokyo treat wasn't completely new to me, I expected it to be an intense experience. Chocolate with 86% cocoa is bitter . But good bitter. These miniature, individually wrapped portions are just the right size for a cocoa jolt. However, I had a particular job in mind for most of these. Their assignment will be revealed in my next post.

Time to dive into that bag of exotic mass-produced treats yet again! I think Matt chose these entirely on the basis of their funny name. Actually, my colon is probably one of the digestive organs I'd like least to dwell upon while eating. Instead I concentrated hard on the snacks before me. They're little wafer tubes filled with sweet white goop. There's not much to say about these other than that they're sweet. A study of sugar in two textures. I stoically munched my way through the entire box (Michael couldn't face more than one) and I can say with confidence that there are no nuances to be savoured. These are just sweet . Actually, they're most likely not even vegetarian. Like the Pocky before them, a stroll around the internet indicates that they most likely contain animal-based shortening. So no more Collons for my taste buds, my stomach or my colon.

Though I'd never heard of it, Matt picked this block of chocolate out for us since it is Japan's most popular and well-known. It looks to me like the kind of bar that could conceal a golden ticket to Willa Wonka's Chocolate Factory! I was impressed with this - it seems to have a higher cocoa content than the milk chocolates sold here. It was no effort for Michael and I to devour the entire 70g block in one delicious sitting!

Folks who've wandered around an Asian supermarket here in Australia should be no strangers to Pocky . These chocolate-coated pretzel sticks are crunchy, just a little salty, and contain not quite enough smooth dark-ish chocolate to sate me, causing me to eat more and more and MORE. Just as well they're divided into two sachets within the box, or I'd finish the lot in a sitting. Note that Pocky is most likely NOT fully vegetarian - translations of the ingredient list indicate that they contain shortening. We ate, we enjoyed but we won't seek them out again.

The first of the Tokyo treats given to us by Matt were these little chocolates. They're not actually from Japan at all - Matt picked these up on a recent holiday in Korea. I was pretty skeptical about a savoury cabbage-based delicacy going anywhere near chocolate but I was willing to give this small sample a go just for fun. These were surprisingly good! The smooth paste in the centre gave no hint of cabbage and was just as creamy as the milky, melty chocolate. But whoa, did these have a spicy kick! Far stronger than any other chilli-chocolate dessert I've eaten (though admittedly I never managed to try the chilli-chocolate cupcakes at Inkari ). I rather liked this explosive little package, and was even a little disappointed that I couldn't detect a shot of vinegar.

After some food and chatter, Matt revealed the gifts he'd been carrying around for us over the past few days. There was an enormous graphic novel for Michael and pretty decorated origami paper for me. Then, to my surprise, there was more! One by one, Matt revealed shiny package after shiny package - samples of all kinds of junk food. He explained that he wanted to show us something from his everyday life that was different, and I knew what he meant. When I spent a semester studying in upstate New York I loved slowly browsing the supermarket on my own, marvelling at the bright and unfamiliar convenience foods. (There were nine brands of breakfast cereal that included marshmallows! Nine!) This gift was perfect, especially given the high ratio of chocolate to other stuff. I won't go through them all in detail now - they'll get a post each as we gradually eat them, and I think they deserve a tag of their own!