2021 update: Cafe an-an has moved! Now at 94 Boundary Rd, Hove BN3 4EF. Make sure to pop in and chat some Japanese with Noriko-san while you buy your sweets. She's always very welcoming! The cafe’s opening hours are changeable, so check their Facebook or Instagram before making a trip.
I was a vegetarian for ten years…then, I moved to Japan. I lasted about two weeks as a vegetarian in Japan, before swiftly abandoning my principles in favour of late-night ramen and fish for breakfast.
That's not to say that being vegetarian - or even vegan - in Japan is impossible. It just wasn't for me.
But did you know that lots of wagashi (Japanese sweets) are naturally vegan?
I hadn't really thought about it, until I learned that Cafe an-an in Portslade was running an Afternoon Tea event for World Vegan Day on 1st November.
Here are some pictures of the tasty food I managed to take on the day - before I ate it all.
I got there super early, partly because I got the bus, and partly because I was trying to run on "Japan time", i.e., if you're not early, you're late.
Cafe an-an is run by the lovely Noriko-san, who you can see selling Japanese sweets at lots of events around Brighton.
I meant to get a picture with Noriko too, but she was very busy cooking! Next time...
Anyway, we arrived and were presented with this cute handwritten menu.
Today's reading practice for you! ↓
We started the Afternoon Tea with a little soy milk and pumpkin soup. Then chestnut rice, nasu dengaku (glazed aubergine), and ganmodoki (tofu fritters) with lotus root.
You can see from the picture how small the aubergine is. It's a proper tiny Japanese one - sweet and delicious.
I haven't had aubergine that good in a long time...
Next, the sweet bit!Tsukimi dango ("moon-viewing dumplings"), and steamed chestnut yōkan (a jellied sweet made with agar) - that's the purple triangle below.
And pumpkin kintsuba - that's the orange slice that looks a bit like a piece of brie.
Kintsuba is another type of Japanese sweet, popular with people who like their sweets a bit less sweet.
The last little course was i-no-ko mochi ("baby boar rice cake"). Tasty, and of course it doesn't contain any boar...baby or otherwise.
And lastly, we had an awesome little maple leaf shaped sweet. Isn't it pretty?
Finally, my little rabbit manjuu (steamed bun) filled with anko (red bean paste).
He was almost too cute to eat, but I ate him head first.
I felt pretty sorry for the cute bunny. But at least he's vegan! Unlike me...
2021 update: Café an-an has moved! Now at 94 Boundary Rd, Hove BN3 4EF. Make sure to pop in and chat some Japanese with Noriko-san while you buy your sweets. She's always very welcoming! The cafe’s opening hours are changeable, so check their Facebook or Instagram before making a trip.
First published November 2017. Updated August 2021.
Like many people in the UK, I studied French in school. I liked French. I thought it was really fun to speak another language, to talk with people, and to try and listen to what was going on in a new country. (Still do!)
When I was 14 we went on a school exchange to the city of Reims, in northeastern France. I was paired with a boy, which I’m sure some 14-year-olds would find very exciting but which I found unbearably awkward. He was very sweet and we completely ignored each other.
That was nearly 20 years ago, and I didn’t learn or use any more French until, at some point in lockdown, I decided on a whim to take some one-to-one lessons with online teachers. Here are some things I learned about French, about language learning, and about myself.