Kyoto Fair (2) - Most popular souvenir sweet

Kyoto Fair has too many vegan sweets to choose from. But I think that yatsuhashi, especially raw yatsuhashi, may be the most famous sweet specific to Kyoto. It was originally made from glutinous rice flour, sugar, and cinnamon. In fact, this kind of raw yatsuhashi is available in many other cities in Japan, including Hamamatsu. Recently, it has been developed into many other versions. In Kyoto Fair, there were eight kinds sold individually. All of them were vegan.

Usually, raw yatsuhashi are sold in packs that contains at least five pieces. I was glad to see them and bought five kinds, one of each. They had smooth sweet bean paste, and bean paste flavored with strawberry, yuzu, cherry blossom, and green tea in them respectively.

I intended to try two of them. First, I ate the one with smooth sweet bean paste. Raw yatsuhashi of this shop Izutsuyatsuhashihonpo (井筒八ッ橋本舗) had originally mashed sweet bean paste in it, and I thought such rough paste might match the strong flavor of cinnamon better than smooth paste. The original type was selling the best in the fair among the eight kinds. As Japanese sweets seldom contain spice, it seemed to have an enduring popularity because of its uniqueness.

The next one I tried had strawberry-flavored bean paste in it. The flavor of cinnamon is weaker than the first one, and the flavor of strawberry was dominant. The distinctive flavor of the fruit was refreshing, and I couldn’t help but eat one more; the one with yuzu-flavored bean paste. Yuzu is a citrus fruit, and I found it also good. I’m a great fruit-lover. With raw yatsuhashi, I drank roasted green tea, but coffee or black tea may also go with the flavor of cinnamon.
 
As raw yatsuhashi will last until tomorrow, I’ll have the remaining ones later. In addition to them, I have also baked yatsuhashi, which I got from my mother yesterday. She had also been in Kyoto Fair.

They look totally different from raw yatsuhashi. They are like crackers and have also the flavor of cinnamon. Personally, I prefer raw yatsuhashi, but baked yatsuhashi has a long history. It was first made in the 17th century and is said to be named after a famous koto player and composer Kengyo Yatsuhashi. The shop Izutsuyatsuhashihonpo was founded in 1805. Their raw yatsuhashi was first sold in 1947, and the new version, which is known as “Yuko”, was put on sale in 1960’s. Izutsuyatsuhashihonpo is one of the most popular yatsuhashi shops in Kyoto.