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Japanese Cheesecake

mascarpone
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mascarpone

mascarpone

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I have heard in the past from Japanese friends that New York Cheesecake had an excellent texture but was overly sweet. From my own experience, after tasting the Japanese chiffon-style or "Light" cheesecake at both the KO and Odakyu stores in Shinjuku - West Tokyo last December, that Japanese cheesecake texture differs from New York cheesecake in that it has a lighter and fluffier texture, and Japanese cheesecake is also not as sweet.

It is interesting that the NY Times article (Wednesday, March 17 Dining In, Section F1, Page 1) In Cheesecake City, a Quest for the Best , Ed Levine stated, in a somewhat ambiguous way*, " You can buy chocolate cheesecake in your local supermarket, and in Whole Foods at the Time Warner Center. There is (Swedish) cheesecake at Aquavit, and (Mexican) cheesecake at the Bright Food Shop in Chelsea, and *an attempt (Japanese) at Sui in SoHo" :hmmm: . Although I have not tasted the cheesecake at Sui, I would venture to say that it may be case of apples and oranges here.

Japanese "Light" Cheesecake is sold at Zaiya Cafe at 41st Street, between 5th and Madison Avenues for $2.25 a slice. It is fluffy and instead of having a crust underneath, the fluffy cheese is on top of a thin layer of white sponge cake. On the top of the cheesecake is a glaze and a miniture drop of whip cream topped by a rasberry. There are also many other pastries (yes, and Papa Beards Cream Puffs) and baked goods as well as bento boxes, sushi, and a selction of fish, meat, and vegetable entres served cafeteria style. The price is quite reasonable and the place is packed with Japanese and American office workers during lunch hour.

Edited by mascarpone (log)
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mascarpone

mascarpone

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Corrections to post titled "Japanese Cheesecake"

The store in Shinjuku - West Tokyo is Keiyo instead of KO.

The price of Cheesecake at Zaiya Cafe is $2.50 instead of $2.25.

In addition to the rasberry atop the whipped cream dollop, there is also a blueberry.

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lambretta76

lambretta76

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You may want to try the cheescake contraption at Chikalicious in the East Village ... incredibly light, served on a mountain of crushed ice. (This place has many Japanese touches to it as I believe the owner is Japanese.)

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mascarpone

mascarpone

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You may want to try the cheescake contraption at Chikalicious in the East Village ... incredibly light, served on a mountain of crushed ice. (This place has many Japanese touches to it as I believe the owner is Japanese.)

Lambretta76,

I have not yet been to Chikalicious but have heard great things about the cheesecake there. I believe it is made of Fromage Blanc ( Sp ?). I agree with you about the Japanese touches of the place (e.g. sitting up to the bar - like a sushi bar - and the smallish proportions of the servings).

Thanks for the tip.

mascarpone

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bleachboy

bleachboy

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Interesting...

Who invented cheesecake, anyway?  Was it the Americans?  The Italians?  Italian-Americans?!

That's a good question...

Where are all the the culinary anthropologists when you need one?

Don Moore

Nashville, TN

Peace on Earth

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balmagowry

balmagowry

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Interesting...

Who invented cheesecake, anyway?  Was it the Americans?  The Italians?  Italian-Americans?!

That's a good question...

Where are all the the culinary anthropologists when you need one?

On the case, sir! :salute:

OK, here's what I got - so far. Google turns up a couple of sites which refer to cheesecake having been invented by the Greeks on the occasion of the first Olympic games in 776 BC. Based on the references I have handy I have not yet been able to substantiate this (but my home library is missing some key sources, so it may well be true). It does, however, appear that cheesecake was invented by the Greeks and subsequently adopted (along with many, many other Greek culinary customs) by the Romans. Andrew Dalby cites a reference in The Banquet of Philoxenus, around 400 BC, to a "cheesecake, made with millk and honey... baked like a pie" - he doesn't give the Greek from which he gets "cheesecake," but it is probably something on the order of plakous - or later placenta. He and Alexis Soyer both cite cheesecake recipes from Cato's De Re Rustica (2nd/3rd century BC), in one of which it is referred to as placenta, in the other as libum ("offering," frequently used generically to mean "cake"). No apparent etymological connection between the original Greco-Roman placenta and the modern anatomical meaning of that word, except perhaps that the early cheesecakes were sometimes more like flat pies, i.e. a cheese-based filling wrapped in a pastry envelope (hence, possibly, the modern medical term placenta implying a wrapping, which - damn, can't find that reference any more - I believe dates from the 17th century). Dalby's references are a little confusing: in connection with cheesecake he mentions a Greek recipe for plakous as being from "Antiphanes quoted by Athenaeus," but it is not clear where or whether he has actually quoted or adapted that particular recipe. He does give three recipe adaptations, apparently all from Cato, one of them for a savory cheesecake. All of them call for combining soft cheese with flour(!) and egg and bay leaf (!), and the sweet ones also add honey; still and all, it is unmistakably a proto-cheesecake!

(Hmmm - thread convergence or at least interest convergence, for me anyway - this suggests that the Greco-Roman placenta would be the forerunner of the raised-pie "coffin." Wow. Further investigation is called for.)

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balmagowry

balmagowry

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Wow!!  Great sleuthing, balmagowry!

It wouldn't surprise me a bit if they started out as a savory food item.  Pies started out the same way, and you can still find shrimp and alligator sausage cheesecake at Jacques-Imo's (It's delicious!)

But the Greeks in 776 BC (!) -- totally unexpected.

Hey, thanks - but remember, we don't have proof yet for 776BC - only About.com, which in my view is not quite authority enough. But I'll keep an eye peeled....

BTW re savory vs. sweet - looks like they started out as both, pretty much simultaneously. Which makes sense, considering how common it used to be to mix savory and sweet - sugar and/or honey with meat, etc. According to Dalby, it was a question of the type of cheese used; a salty cheese would make a savory cheesecake - a less salty cheese would be used for a sweet one. It works for me.

(Oh man, those Jacques-Imo's foods look good, including that cheesecake - wonder how cheesecake-like it is in other respects, like texture. Love the "red-eye" effect on the creme brulee....)

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