The taste of foreign lands ”Izumiya’s Castella

An old establishment of Castella, specialty of Nagasaki

Castella is popular among both young and old. It was brought to Japan in mid-16th century by a Portuguese missionary to Nagasaki which was the only place open to trade with foreign countries. The castella at that time was a very simple sweet made of eggs, flour and sugar mixed together in equal amounts, and put into a steaming pan, and baked from above and below. Unlike other European confectionaries, castella did not require dairy products as an ingredient, so it spread to Japan where there were no customs to eat or produce dairy products. After that, special baking pans were developed, and the recipe changed gradually to suit the Japanese taste. It spread throughout Japan, especially by medical personnel because of castella’s high nutritional value. The recipe changed further with the changing of the times, and various recipes, such as adding ”mizuame” （starch syrup) in addition to sugar, were invented in various regions to suit the local Japanese palate.

Because Nagasaki is the place where castella was first introduced, there are many reputable castella shops in Nagasaki. At Izumiya, one of such establishments, the choicest ingredients and carefully selected materials are used in order to pursue the original taste of Nagasaki castella. Eggs influence the flavor and the color of castella, and they use fresh ”Taiyo Tamago” produced in Nagasaki. For flour, which influence the texture, they use flour with less gluten to make smoother batter. Sugar is the decisive ingredient to give castella its rich sweetness, and they use fine caster sugar and premium ”mizuame” syrup made of glutinous rice, which is normally used for high quality Japanese sweets. ”Linden honey” is added in order to enhance the elegant sweetness of sugar and ”mizuame” syrup.
Izumiya’s castella, the taste of tradition made continuously by skilled master chefs. Enjoy it.