I didn’t know till recently that “Coffee Jelly” was a Japanese invention. Really? (Still in doubt) The realization came when I posted a picture of coffee jelly on facebook and my friends living abroad posted how they missed coffee jelly. Wow, no coffee jelly in the states?

How can they not make something as simple as this? It’s just jellied coffee after all. But the thing is that the coffee have to be good. When you get a good coffee jelly it’s like they capsuled the best moment of a freshly brewed coffee. The bitterness ( coffee jelly is never sweeten when made but, sweeten by pouring some sort of syrup on it when eating), the aroma is just so perfect and every time I bumped into a good one, I’m always amazed by something this simple can be so satisfying.

Where can you get a good coffee jelly? In good coffee shop. The old school ones, the one which are called “Kissaten” in Japanese. Kissaten are like coffee parlors way before the word “cafe” were introduced in Japan. It’s where people goes from morning till night, for simple breakfast or some light meals. Coffees here are made to order, therefore places which serves good coffee will pretty much make a good coffee jelly.

I happen to walk around Kanazawa Bunko area the other day and found a tiny Kissaten on my way back home. I peaked in and saw several groups of old ladies and gentlemen immersing in their conversation. They are definitely locals and the place was their home ground to chill and wait for more of their gangs to join in (these people are around 70’s to 80’s). The menu placed outside was a typical Kissaten menu but what catched my eye was the picture of coffee jelly. OK, coffee jelly are usually on the menu but never featured in the store front. It’s something we usually take it for granted and when we bumped into the really good ones, you just want to apologize and would swear that you will never take it for granted again but will forget the whole drama the next day.

I walked in and a waitress came with a glass of water and I ordered coffee jelly. She looked at me and said “do you want to change the whipped cream with something else?” (coffee jelly usually comes with whipped cream or heavy cream) I looked back at her and asked “Substitute with what?”, she grinned at me and said, “Soft serve”. Wow, yes of course, how can I ever resist a Soft serve?? Few minute later, came my coffee jelly and it made my day.

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コーヒージェリーって日本ならではの食べ物だと知ってましたか？私は数年前にFacebookでコーヒージェリーの写真を投稿した時に、アメリカの友人達に、懐かしい、羨ましいとかいろんなコメントをいただきました。何処にでも有る物だと思っていたのですが、意外にも外国ではあまり馴染みの無い物らしいです。

美味しいコーヒージェリーを出す所って決まって喫茶店的な所で、コーヒーそのものが美味しい事が基本。一口食べるとほろ苦さとかコーヒーの香りが口一杯に広がり、淹れたての鮮度の良いコーヒーエッセンスそのものを閉じ込めた様な味わい。なんでこんなシンプルな食べ物がこんなに美味しいんだろうと不思議でなりません。美味しそうな喫茶店を発見するとついついコーヒージェリーをメニューで探し注文して見たくなります。今回もそんな動機で初めての所でオーダーして見ました。

金沢文庫での午後、元気な老人で賑わう店内。決して広く無い店内だけど、女性４人ほどで切り盛りしていたな。客は私以外、全員常連さん。待ち合わせでも無いけど、決まった時間に決まった人達が集まる様な場所なんだろうな。コーヒージェリーを注文すると、ホイップクリームを別の物に変えられる告げられ、何と変更出来るかと尋ねると、なんとソフトクリーム。ソフトクリームとは贅沢な。これじゃあ、ほぼパフェじゃね？と過りつつ、迷わずソフトクリームでとお願いする。

しばらくして、運ばれてきたジェリーは大きめにカットされ、無造作に器に盛り付けてあり、そこへ潔くソフトクリームがドンと。先ずはジェリーを味見。美味い。美味しい奴だ。コーヒーの苦味を感じつつ、香りがしっかり口の中に残る。そこへソフトクリームを流し込む。いやー美味しい。疲れも吹き飛ぶさ。いい所見つけた。金沢文庫駅前の「三本コーヒーショップ」と言うちっちゃな喫茶店でした。