Where does one find cream-filled pastries in the shape of a Japanese anime character? At a Korean bakery in Beijing called “Tous Les Jours,” of course! While the culinary lineage here escapes me, I can tell you with certainty that a sweet, bready Totoro, modeled after the titular character from Miyazaki’s fanciful feature film, is a cute and delicious snack. Oh, and he’s also photogenic.
Tous Les Jour’s pâtisserie’s prowess isn’t limited to novelty creampuffs. They also have all manner of unsavory breads, including baguettes filled with “squid sauce,” “shrimp meat,” “bacon,” and the inexplicable “floss.” Though we haven’t sampled these heinous bread sticks, we did try one of their cakes, and while it looked cute and cuddly, the innards were crud and curdlely.
And since I’m feeling particularly onomatopoetic, here’s a (bad) poem for my tasty Totoro:
Tasty Totoros taste too tasty to tarry.
Nommed, nibbled and noshed upon they linger nary.
From a bakery of batty bakers cooking
Totoros are delivered daily for dunking
