shaenon: New Smithson!

Shaenon K. Garrity (

shaenon) wrote,
@ 2006-11-02 19:02:00

Entry tags:

overlooked manga festival, smithson

New Smithson!
I'm just so happy with the way this scene is coming out. Brian is brilliant as hell.

http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/smithson/series.php

Those of you who like good comics may want to read my interview with Gene Yang on Sequential Tart. Gene was nice enough to talk to me about his graphic novel American Born Chinese, the first comic nominated for the prestigious National Book Award, and how the secret Asian-American cabal is poised to crush Whitey and install Derek Kirk Kim as our lord and master.

Also, it's time for--yes!--another installment of Overlooked Manga Festival! Those with slow connections be warned: this one's got a lot of scans. Warm, yeasty scans.

In my post on Kekkaishi, I commented that manga about baking are always awesome. Today I aim to prove this by serving up a sample of...

GREAT MOMENTS IN MANGA BAKING!

Because this is manga, there's only one way to present Great Moments in Baking: as a bloody-knuckled, all-out tournament battle! So step into the squared circle, manga bakers, and show us what you've got!

First up: Antique Bakery, the story of four gorgeous and occasionally heterosexual men who run a patisserie together. Ono, the head baker and holder of the coveted title "Gay of Demonic Charm," is about to unveil the bakery's Christmas specials. Of course, in Japan, Christmas has no religious significance and is primarily an opportunity for young couples to get it on, which suits the philosophy of the Antique Bakery just fine. Tachibana, the stubbly-faced owner, doesn't care for pastries (yes, he owns a patisserie, but I SWEAR THERE'S A GOOD REASON), but reluctantly samples Ono's wares.

Educational yet strangely suggestive: that's good baking.

Next: Yakitate!! Japan, which follows the fortunes of one Kazuma Azuma, a teenage boy determined to create "Ja-Pan," the national bread of Japan, so that his nation can finally hold its own against such bread giants as France and Italy. (Pan, you see, is Japanese for "bread," which makes this a brilliant pun rather than an inexplicable and bizarre premise for a manga.) In a competition for a job at the renowned bakery chain Pantasia, Kazuma whips up one of his many experimental Ja-Pan models, freaking out the other contestants:

Last but certainly not least: venerable hardboiled cooking manga Iron Wok Jan. Iron Wok Jan doesn't actually include much baking, being more about Chinese-style cooking, but sometimes Jan has to bust loose with the oven action. Called upon to produce a dessert for an intense cooking competition, he starts by slitting the throats of several dozen pigeons and collecting the blood, then asks the question on everyone's lips:

The answer? Well, check it out...

But what do the judges think?

Jan accepts the praise with his usual classy restraint:

And there you have it. Which baked good wins this brutal baking tourney? Antique Bakery's Christmas buche, Yakitate!! Japan's edible curry bowl, or Iron Wok Jan's blood egg pie?

Cast your vote in the comments! I'll announce the winner next week. Although honestly, in manga baking, everyone wins.

(Post a new comment)

	soggytoast 2006-11-02 08:08 pm UTC (link)
	Yakitate is someting I've been curious about for awhile. I'm glad it's out, now. On a side note, ever think of covering Aqua Knight in the Overlooked Manga festival? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	jeepersjournal 2006-11-02 11:37 pm UTC (link)
	I second the Aqua Knight vote. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	prodigal 2006-11-02 08:20 pm UTC (link)
	I have to vote for the curry bread. How can you not love something that cool? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	benlehman 2006-11-02 08:46 pm UTC (link)
	I vote for the homo-erotic buttercream. yrs-- --Ben (Reply to this)(Parent)

	serrana 2006-11-02 08:26 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, how could they say mean things about buttercream frosting? A properly-made buttercream frosting is one of life's great pleasures. (Reply to this)(Thread)

ashmael
2007-09-30 05:20 am UTC (link)

yeah, but fake butter cream is one of the worst things EVAR. =_=;;

it's understandable he hates it if he IS thinking of storebought/lame cakes - i mean, the cheap storebought cakes with fake buttercream icing...? they look so absolutely foul when it's made with margarine or shortening and I could never imagine even trying to eat it again, it's even worse than fake whipped cream.

butter makes everything better XD!

(Reply to this)(Parent)

iron_spike
2006-11-02 08:27 pm UTC (link)

Oh MAN I love cooking manga! There will never be enough cooking manga, as far as I'm concerned."Antique Bakery" is the only one out of these three I haven't checked out yet, since I like savory dishes more than sweet ones. (Yakitate FTW, by the way.)

But where's the love for "Cooking Master Boy?" That manga taught me the joys of replacing pretty much any instance of water in recipes with broth, and improved my culinary abilities twofold pretty much overnight.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	ryuko_midori 2006-11-02 09:01 pm UTC (link)
	If you have any love for slash, even if you pretend to hide it like I do, you should read Antique Bakery. Hell, even if you don't like slash! No one can resist the "Gay of demonic charm!" (Reply to this)(Parent)

	shaenon 2006-11-05 09:33 am UTC (link)
	Jason Thompson taught himself to cook from Iron Wok Jan! He focused more on the simple stir-fries than the pigeon-blood pastries, though. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	annechen67 2006-11-02 09:27 pm UTC (link)
	Excuse me, but there's just something about yaoi and pastry... mmm... Hm? oh, of course. Anytime you can mix salacious images with actual educational content is a bonus. (Reply to this)

	jeepersjournal 2006-11-02 11:36 pm UTC (link)
	I guess I'd go with the Shortcake. Because it's Cake. Is there something wrong with me finding the Pigdeon Pie with Blood Eggs in it incrediblity cute despite the disturbing panel of actual, hanging pidgeons used to make it? I'm pretty sure Pidgeons are probably pretty tasty though. (Reply to this)(Thread)

2ce
2006-11-03 12:36 am UTC (link)

Depends on where they used to live, I'm sure. In Washington, fer example, lots of people will only eat ducks caught east of the Cascades. Out in the Eastlands, see, ducks eat corn; in the West, they eat lots of slugs. I've been informed there's a difference. =p So country pigeons probably taste like tender dark meat, but I'd be a little wary of eating the bird that earned the nickname "Flying Ashtray."

(<--secretly vegetarian in the first place; I was just looking for an excuse to talk about slug-ducks.)

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	jaderabbit 2006-11-03 01:41 am UTC (link)
	Buttercream, baby. Butter. Cream. Oh yes. (Reply to this)

	spotweld 2006-11-03 02:05 am UTC (link)
	Edible curry bowl. I'll be waiting for it to show up and the Japanese themed renn faires (When SCA and anime fans have offspring, what could go wrong?) (Reply to this)(Thread)

	jaderabbit 2006-11-03 02:35 am UTC (link)
	I hope that was a rhetorical question. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	spotweld 2006-11-03 02:38 am UTC (link)
	Only time will tell. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	feech 2006-11-03 04:52 am UTC (link)
	The bread is my favorite, too-- they're all good, but that one sticks in my mind as most entertaining. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	2ce 2006-11-03 02:55 am UTC (link)
	Yakitate's hilarious cross-page gag WINS. That look of dismay... that kindly, bearded Indian man floating in a sea of sparkle-tone... For some reason, that's everything I want from a manga. (Reply to this)

	Re: Today's Smithson... chanlemur 2006-11-03 11:36 am UTC (link)
	The last two panels are pretty much what I sound like when I try to have a serious conversation with anyone outside my immediate household. (Reply to this)

	erinfinnegan 2006-11-03 09:21 pm UTC (link)
	Hey I found you because of some manga blog. I also review manga and do mangacast nonsense and know soggytoast... friending you. BUt also I vote for Antique Bakery's cake. I just read that volume and WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO EAT THAT. Like "I'd eat that" in a way like "I'd hit that". I love curry... but blood desserts? Well, I'd try anything once. (Reply to this)

	klyfix 2006-11-04 05:27 am UTC (link)
	I knew that there was such a thing as cooking manga (I've thought that the Japanese restaurant "Super Fusion Cusine" where I bought a random thing that had flying fish roe in it sounded like a manga) but I didn't know just how, uhh, weird it was. Go figure. :) (Reply to this)

(Anonymous)
2006-11-12 03:39 am UTC (link)

I found it impossible to vote.

a Buche de Noel made with shortcake instead of a classic Genoise is just WRONG!

Classic Genoise

8 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
2 cups unbleached, unbromated pastry flour, sifted

Place a 1-quart saucepan half filled with water over high heat and bring it to a simmer. Make a double boiler by setting a large mixing bowl over the simmering water. Place the whole eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and honey in the mixing bowl and make an egg foam by whisking the mixture to 113 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 7 to 10 minutes. The egg foam passes through various stages becoming foamy, then smooth and finally it thickens. When it is thick, it will be hot to the touch, tripled in volume, and light in color and the sugar will have completely dissolved. If you dip the whisk into the mixture and pull it out, the batter should fall back into the bowl in a thick ribbon.

Remove the mixing bowl from the heat and whip the batter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until it cools, increases in volume, stiffens slightly and becomes pale yellow, about 7 to 10 minutes. Take the time to whip it well; if the mixture is under whipped, the baked genoise will be dense. Very, very carefully, fold in the flour with a rubber spatula until the flour is no longer visible, making sure to fold to the bottom of the bowl. Do not over mix or the batter will deflate. Fill buttered and parchment paper-lined 8-inch round cake pans 3/4 full with batter. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven until well-risen and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Let the genoise cool slightly. Unmold, remove parchment paper and finish cooling on a wire rack. The baked genoise can be stored in the freezer for 2 to 3 weeks if well wrapped in plastic wrap. Return it to room temperature before using it. \

basil_jelly

(Reply to this)

	naniwa 2006-12-09 01:56 am UTC (link)
	Hold on how did Kekkaishi's castle cakes miss out on this list? (Reply to this)

Mini Sitemap:

Username:		Create an Account Forgot your login? Login w/ OpenID
Password:
	Remember Me
	English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…