The cake I bought in the store was called zuccotto. In the photo, it is the thick cake on the plate in the back.
It is an Italian cake, a sponge cake filled with cream and fruit, with a domed top. Fruit is not an essential ingredient in zuccotto, but when cut into pieces like this, it looks very glamorous.
The day I gave birth to Takeh, I bought this zuccotto to take home with me when I went to the obstetrician’s office to visit her and my newborn. I asked her, “What do you want? I asked her, “What do you want? I asked her what she wanted, and she immediately replied, “Cake!
At that time, because of COVID-19, husbands were not allowed to be present at the birth of their wives. She said, “I’m going to the OB/GYN because the baby is about to be born,” so I drove her to the OB/GYN in the middle of the night, and when I woke up afterwards, I got a LINE message saying, “The baby is born”. It was such an easy birth for a man. On the other hand, my partner Ishi must have had the hardest time of his life during that time.
So this zuccotto was the biggest reward for her right after the birth, and she will never forget it.
Takeh’s birthday is also the anniversary of Ishi’s birth, and it’s appropriate to eat zuccotto on Takeh’s birthday. It is better to avoid the service mentality of “We had zuccotto last year, so let’s have some other extravagant sweets this year,” or “Let’s make some homemade sweets. Repeating the same thing over and over again is a good opportunity to remember the past.
Perhaps the idea is the same for shrine festivals. By holding the same event in the same way every year, it brings back memories for people.
The world is full of things and information. Because we live in such an era, I have come to believe that it is better to establish a routine of “eat this on this day” or “do this at this time” and repeat it year after year in an honest way.
But if you are not conscious of such a routine, you will forget it. What did you do on Mother’s Day? What did you do on your wedding day? What about my birthday?
I also want to include participation in other events in the year’s events, such as “In February, let’s go to Nakaminato to buy anko (sea monkfish)” or “In July, let’s buy morning glories at the morning glory market. It’s too late to remember after the media reports, “Oh, that’s right, it’s already that time of year.
(2023.03.09)
Comments