KonpeitÅ
Kompeito (Japanese金 平 糖) is a Japanese candy.
Etymology
Kompeito is derived from the Portuguese word confeito for " confectionery ", ie " Prepared ".
The usual spelling in Japanese is traditionally金 平 糖, which would literally " golden flat sugar " mean the characters, however, were mainly chosen according to phonetic equivalent of the pronunciation of the Portuguese term. Variants are金 米糖( " golden rice sugar " ) and金 饼 糖( "Golden Mochizucker "). This is different for糖 花meaning " sugar flower " - a ateji, ie they gave the characters regardless of their actual pronunciation reading the Kompeito. Modern, a purely phonetic spelling with Katakana Hiraganaコンペイトーorこんぺいとうused.
History
In the 16th century, the technology for manufacture of confectionery by Portuguese traders was introduced to Japan. In April 1569 Luís FROIS made at his audience with Oda Nobunaga this confection as a gift. Saikaku described in the description of Japanese manners merchants Nippon Eitaigura 1688 Kompeito production.
Since that time Japan neither infrastructure nor technology for the preparation of sugar was available and needed for the preparation of confeito much sugar, it was a rare and precious candy. In the Meiji period Kompeito has been called normal Japanese candy.
Production
Kompeito normally has a diameter of 5 to 10 millimeters and is formed by repeatedly wrapping a poppy rare sesame seed with sugar syrup. Here, the seed is rotated for several days, heated and coated with syrup, until the ball is formed with the characteristic small hills. The preparation usually takes 7-13 days, and is also still partially by hand.
The formation of these hills is reduced to the unevenness of the seed used, which leads initially to an uneven coverage of the seed with the syrup. The fact that sites with more sugar syrup to solidify faster and thus increases the unevenness arising prominent hill.