Sweet Reads - gourmet manga recommendations
I’d like to take a moment to recommend some food related manga that I find inspirational. Manga are Japanese comics (for those who don’t know) and one of the books that inspired me to create The City Sweet Tooth is a manga called Antique Bakery by Fumi Yoshinaga. The story concerns a small bakery and the relationships between the (attractive male) workers (including the chef, “a gay of demonic charm”) and also the customers. I’d say it’s a comedy / drama and one of the best parts about it are the detailed descriptions of each French pastry they make. Also, the intense reactions when people try the delicious desserts. It makes you hungry just reading it! When I first read it I thought “Pastries and cute guys, why didn’t I think of this?” That combined with my love of NYC and knowledge of local dessert spots that I am always recommending to people was the impetus for The City Sweet Tooth. I was also excited to work more with color in my comics and am having a blast with the colors I’m using. Another food manga I’ve started to read is Yakitate Japan! about a young baker obsessed with developing a delicious national bread for Japan. He ends up in many hilarious competitions (ie; having to bake a bread that a horse would love - “mare-velous” bread) and this book has some really funny reactions from people trying his amazing breads. It also has some actual explanations of the chemical reactions and recipes included. This book also has a lot of puns which I love. These are both available translated in the US so check them out!
Filed under: Sweet Reads | Comment







