Meat and bread

Where do I start with a headline like that!....Today was pay the land lady day, a monthly event on or just after pay day, the 21st of each month. (Side note, who invented monthly pay?! Feels like forever before I am rewarded for my efforts). Pay the land lady day is an exciting event and a lot of thought goes into when we actually pay her. This is because she owns a wee bread shop attached to her house. I like bread. Especially bread that is not full (almost oozing) sugar.

If we have timed our visit right and the gods are on our side we are blessed with a big fresh bag of takeaway bread. Usually enough to last the weekend and particularly good with an egg or two on top or Jo’s amazing jam (thanks Jo!).

We have learnt through a method of trial and error to show up around 4.30-5pm. This is a perfect time as her day is winding down and she is eager to see any unsold bread go to a good home. Thankfully that good home is ours. Many months back we made the mistake of going too early and we were sent home with nothing, this has not happened again!

Today we came away with a walnut filled bread log (apparently called a tank loaf), a chocolate chip bread log/tank loaf and about 8 small buns.




Now these buns might look yummy but hold your horses. DO NOT just dive right in and swallow it in two bites. I believe they should come with a warning label.

WARNING: THESE YUMMY LOOKING TREATS MAY CONTAIN WEIRD THINGS THAT WILL CAUSE FOREIGNERS TO SPIT OUT. ONLY EAT IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCED WITH STRANGE JAPANESE BREAD FILLINGS OR HAVE NO REGARD FOR YOUR OWN HEALTH.



I am in no way knocking our land lady/baker, she is awesome, but some of the fillings leave me wondering if I am in fact her unsuspecting lab rat. For example some have a whole potato or kumara inside! Talk about a carb rush. Some have azuki beans, a purple bean paste. I have also been hit with a mouth full of eggy custard and another full of cream.



Moving on from bread we find ourselves at the meat section. During the last few supermarket visits we have been eyeing up a large piece of meat that looks somewhat out of place in a Japanese supermarket. This is because it is actually meat with no fat, aka a steak, not the standard thin slices of fat with some specs of meat on the side! We had been apprehensive about getting it as we thought 1) it was probably whale tongue 2) it was probably animal food 3) there was just no way it was ‘western meat’. After having dinner with a friend and finding out she buys it and it is actually only beef from Australia we quickly added it to our trolley and devoured it for last nights dinner. And it was really good!

Finally, on Friday night we went out for yakiniku. This is Korean BBQ and almost the only non Japanese food you can get. Basically you select a whole lot of meat (thin slices that are at least a third fat) and cook them on a hot plate at your table. Very yummy. The owner was a hilarious Korean man who spent the whole meal at the side of our table grinning away with only half a mouth of teeth while telling us NZ meat is not good. The best thing about yakiniku is that you can eat it mum!!!!