|
|
|
Popin'Cookin'
One thing that’s very popular in Japan is "intellectual education candy"; these are sweets that children must create for themselves. Popin'Cookin' it’s a toy that helps develop their creativity. |
|
|
|
 This is how you make Popin'Cookin's sushi |
|
|
|
|
|
There is a type of sweet in Japan that’s sold under the category of "intellectual education candy". These are sweets you must make yourself using the ingredients contained in the box. This way, children can enjoy the process of making candy, which allows them to develop their creativity.
The first sweet of this sort was Neruneru-nerune and it was launched on the market in 1978. The candy was very easy to make: you just had to mix several ingredients in a bowl, and watch them change colors. Following this candy, many similar products appeared and, little by little, this type of sweet has evolved and has been reinvented. Thirty years later, it has reached its ultimate expression: Popin'Cookin' , a series of candies that are very complicated to make.
The following report is from a blogger who has tried "Tanoshii resutoran" (a fun restaurant), one of the products made by Popin'Cookin'. She tried to make a pizza:
"I was impressed by the photos that appeared on the package: the candies looked very real. The box contained several bags of powdered ingredients for each part of the recipe, such as the pizza dough, the cheese, the tomato sauce, etc. I had to mix everything with water.
First I tried to make the pizza dough. After mixing the powder and the water, a very realistic dough began to form. I wanted to make it round, like the dough in the picture, but this was really hard, it took me over 5 minutes. Next came the tomato sauce: 3 minutes after mixing it, it turned into a sort of gelatin; I distributed it in 8 pieces.
What surprised me about this product was the texture each of its components had, for instance, when I took a slice of pizza, the cheese made strings just like melted cheese on real pizza does. The taste was sweet, like any other candy, and I didn’t think adults would like it, but it was really fun to make. I thought it was very complicated for a children’s toy, and it made me admire the capacity children have nowadays. This is truly an intellectual education candy for the 21st Century."
The series includes 4 different products, including one that shows you how to "cook" pieces of sushi or different types of pies, and one that you can use to make soft-candy dolls that look like they’re made of Play Doh. Although these sweets don’t look very healthy, they actually use only natural coloring, such as red cabbage, and they take advantage of color changes due to differing pH levels. So, actually, they’ve also been designed to promote health.
You can see the ad for Popin'Cookin' candies here: watch VIDEO. You can also see the first Neruneru-nerune model, that way you can compare: watch VIDEO.
Links: Popin'Cookin' & Daily Portal
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 (15 Sep 2008)
(21 Apr 2009)
(11 Mar 2009)
(6 Feb 2009)
(4 Feb 2009)
(3 Feb 2009)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Curioblog
Language English [
