The Sweet Taste of Taiwan
2024 / March
“I think there are two types of sweetness in Taiwan: one is the sweetness of sharing, and the other is that of divine blessings.” So says Chang Tsun-chen, author of a book on Taiwanese pastries, in an interview with Taiwan Panorama. Sugar was once a major Taiwanese export, and the role played by sweets and pastries in major festivals and holidays has left beautiful memories in the minds of many people. This issue’s Cover Story will satisfy readers’ craving for sweet foods, from traditional snacks to innovative adaptations of traditional snacks, to pastries that combine sweet and savory flavors, to the sweets brought to Taiwan by Southeast-Asian immigrants.
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Featured Story
Soothing Taiwan’s Sweet Tooth
Stories of Local Pastries
Rivaling Willy Wonka’s legendary chocolate bars, and laden with even more stories than Marcel Proust’s madeleine cakes, Taiwanese pastries continue to satisfy our sweet tooth. With their origins in traditional Chinese confectionery, they are made with local ingredients rich in cultural meaning......
Old-Time Taiwanese Snacks
Exploring Tastes from the Past
Thanks to globalization, there is a dazzling array of snack foods and sweets available to people today, and they come from all over the world. But are you curious about what snack foods and sweets were like in less prosperous days gone by? What did they taste like? And how did they evolve?......
Sweetness from Beyond the Sea
Southeast-Asian Pastries and Sugars
Human beings instinctively enjoy sweetness. Sweets and pastries, moreover, have the power to awaken memories of sweet moments in our lives. In recent years, various sweets from Southeast Asia have been appearing in department stores and markets. For most Taiwanese, these are unexplored territo......