Sandwiches are a sell-out hit with a few key differences from how they’re made in Japan.
Japanese food has made some impressive international inroads in recent years. Turning up your nose at sushi because you’re uncomfortable with the idea of eating raw fish is now likely to get your foody credentials questioned in most countries around the globe, as is still thinking that ramen is limited to instant-variety noodles.
So what’s the latest incredible edible wonder from Japan to become a big hit overseas? Fruit sandwiches, which have now reached a major milestone in the U.K.
Fruit sandwiches, filled with cream and colorful slices of fruit, have been a thing at Japanese sweets shops and convenience stores for many years (the above photo is one we took at a cafe in Japan). It’s only in the past few years, though, that they’ve really started attracting attention from visiting foreign tourists, whose cravings for the treats remain strong after returning to their home countries, and whose social media photos of the fruit sandwiches they ate in Japan have even non-travelers curious to try them too. Seeing the surge in interest, U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer has made an addition to its M & S Food line, and is now offering its own Japanese-inspired fruit sandwiches, as shown in the video below.
The Red Diamond Strawberry and Creme Sandwich went on sale in late June, and the chain says that they’ve already sold more than 83,000 of them, with individual branches often selling out before the day is done. Priced at 2.9 pounds, which converts to roughly 570 yen, they’re a little more expensive than fruit sandwiches have usually been at Japanese convenience stores, but within the realm of what specialty shops in Japan charge for them.
Marks & Spencer’s fruit sandwiches may not be the first of their type available in the U.K., but previous examples have been at Japanese or Asian specialty stores. The Red Diamond Strawberry and Creme Sandwich appears to be the first fruit sandwich offered by a major mainstream retailer with no focus on Asian foodstuffs in particular, showing that the concept is catching on even with shoppers outside the Japanophile and international traveler demographics.
However, like we mentioned above, Marks & Spencer’s strawberry sandwich is inspired by the ones in Japan, which is to say that it’s not exactly the same. For one thing, though it’s cut into two triangular pieces, as is the style in Japan, Marks & Spencer leaves the crusts on, instead of slicing them off like stores in Japan do. The Red Diamond Strawberry and Creme Sandwich is made with a sweetened bread, and while it’s not as sugary as sponge cake, it’s still a departure from the ordinary white sandwich bread used to make fruit sandwiches in Japan. Finally, while more fruit sandwiches in Japan have whipped cream as a filling, Marks & Spencer uses a whipped cream cheese, which would explain why one U.K. local in the video above says the flavor reminds her of cheesecake.
So maybe we could say that the Red Diamond Strawberry and Creme Sandwich is sort of like a dessert analogy for the California Roll or Tempura Crunch Roll, a variation on a Japanese idea that’s finding fans overseas, and might have found enough to stick around for a long time.
Source: TBS News Dig via Hachima Kiko, BBC
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