Japan & the Portuguese Barbarians

[@TastingHistory]

Try Vite Ramen at viteramen.com/tastinghistory use code TASTINGHISTORY10 to get 10% off plus free gifts and free shipping in the contiguous USA!

[@indyfan9845]

You might like Stephen Sondheim's musical "Pacific Overtures." It's about the lead up to the Meiji Restoration era, discussing the westernization of Japan following Commodore Perry's arrival in 1853. It's a beautiful show. Give it a look-up on KZbin. I recommend the Original Broadway Cast starting Mako, Uncle Iroh's original voice actor from Avatar.

[@melissar850]

I have enjoyed Vite Ramen. I have sent it as gifts to friends as well.

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

Wait the sugar turned to caramel if you don't add water? But when you see recipes how to make caramel you put in sugar AND water ... weird.

[@catgodswim]

Vite Ramen may be one of the only sponsorships to actually sell me.. I don't have the patience to cook real food and am in university so this may be a game changer for actually eating somewhat healthy

[@ciello___8307]

Id love to see an early tempura or castella video

[@livias.g.7029]

I was really fascinated by the concept of sweet egg noodles, but then you said they were fios de ovos, my jaw dropped! I didn't know they were a thing in Japan!! Fios de ovos are a Christmas staple in my family. My grandma (who is Portuguese) used to make them both as a dessert (served on top of a crispy pastry, she called them "barquete de fios de ovos") or as a side dish/topping for roasted ham. They're really good paired with meats and savory dishes Thank you for sharing yet another amazing video, Max. I'll finish watching it now, because I'm so curious about the History!

[@DLFH]

Other than ham what other meats have you and your family paired it with? I think this might have to make a guest appearance this weekend during our food marathon.

[@castellobranco4344]

The same here in Brazil. We're very fond of the delicious "doçaria portuguesa".

[@prichicardos]

Well, Portuguese had a lot of influence in Japan during this age. Not sure if the video says it, because I didn't finish it yet, but tempura comes from Portugal as well...

[@mellie4174]

are they still cooked in sugar when paired with meat?

[@DLFH]

@@prichicardos We definitely need a tempura Tasting History video.

[@georgeselly3426]

"They show their feelings without any self-control" Japanese person encounters southern European extroversion for the first time, is horrified

[@blackknightjack3850]

Pretty sure they're just annoyed by the Jesuits forgetting that Nichiren was just as obnoxious like 300 years earlier.

[@NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustache]

Wait was it the Japanese person saying this or Goho? I thought it was the Chinese guy describing them lmao

[@尘-s8b]

@@NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustache It was the Chinese guide who came with the Portuguese. This basically applies to how East Asian civilizations feel toward the Europeans/westerners in general 😂 even till this day.

[@NeostormXLMAX]

South europeans are usually more open than northern Scandinavians as well not a japanese thing

[@Thecrazysamurai69]

@@NeostormXLMAX eventhough, of all the southern europeans, us portuguese are the most quiet and "stoic".... which isn't saying much, but still

[@dig5700]

Hey, portuguese culinary/confectioner student here! Fun fact that one of my teachers told me, centuries ago, egg whites were used a lot in ironing church clothes, mainly priest clothing which left a lot of egg yolks in the monetaries/convents. Monks and other cleric workers took those yolks and started a whole new style of confections called conventual sweets or "doçes conventuais" which the base is, you guessed it, eggs (mostly yolks but whites too) and lots of sugar. In the category of conventual sweets you can find fios de ovos, doçe de ovos (sweet egg cream, roughly translated), pasteis de nata (custard tarts as I heard some call them), amongst other eggy confections that are so important for my country's gastronomy and tradition. It's always awesome to see dishes and sweets that are or have roots in my homeland!

[@masonreed6845]

pasteis de nata is one of my all time favorites. thanks for the info!!!

[@simplyaregularguy131]

those sweets you mentioned look delicious

[@sn4tx]

It’s a fact that many countries have several levels of Portuguese influence. Some where even the language is an influence. Others where straight up Portuguese cuisine became a staple, even if in a local version. In Others was simply the influence of a single ingredient. There’s a fun episode/ story of Thai people visiting Portugal. They were walking the streets of Lisbon when they saw through the windows of a bakery/ pastry business, what they thought it was Thai deserts. And they were impressed. More impressed they were later, when they found out that actually the Thai deserts they were thinking of (I have no clue what exactly they were referring to) had Portuguese origins.

[@globalist1990]

@@sn4tx the Portuguese did some horrible things, most notably the Atlantic slave trade, but still shared lots of good things with nothing to gain from it, just the joy of sharing a good thing. ✌️

[@fernandes.ricardo]

@@globalist1990 what? they didn't share their cooking knowledge out of philanthropy. Instead, by settling in different places, even if only temporarily, their everyday life was mingled with that of locals, and hence their cultures, including their cuisines, just got mixed with or at least influenced each other

[@temari-wl7yb]

I am Japanese. This yellowish sweet candy has been my favorite ever since I was a little girl. When I was a little girl, my late grandmother bought it for me. And now I buy them for my daughter, but she doesn't eat many because they are too sweet. There are not many stores that sell these, so I don't get a chance to buy them, but when I do find them, I always buy them.

[@fernaodias2591]

Boa tarde..Veja a receita de """ farófias """ é complementar aos " fios de ovos """ pois se usa as claras dos ovos.....são as minhas sobremesas favoritas....adeus ...de Portugal

[@animalsarethebest3974]

We also have this egg thread in Thailand , which is influenced by the portugese. It's a traditional dessert here; we called it "Foi Thong" , which means golden thread in English.

[@alemilano5576]

A foi thong indeed

[@animalsarethebest3974]

@@alemilano5576 Sorry, my bad. Foi Thong, indeed. 👍

[@homelessperson5455]

That name is hilarious omg

[@impatvish9451]

I looked it up and we use Jasmine water instead of plain water and that’s fascinating

[@ohhgumdrop]

@@homelessperson5455 it's pronounced more like "tong" than "thong"

[@puriphatsrinithiwat7409]

Fun facts: The sweet egg ramen is also very popular in Thailand as Max mentioned about a particular funnel that is used to make the ramen in the video. Long story short, in 17th Century Thailand it was introduced by Maria Guyomar ,a merchant daughter of Japanese-Portuguese descendants, who was married to a Greek statesman. It was called Foi-Thong which means "Golden threads".

[@mehae_1991]

And then that Greek statesman Name Constantine falcon made a coup poisoning king try to be king with another Siamese high ranking government official than get his head cut off.

[@dittasuwan]

Foi-Thong name of Thai dessert was influenced by Portugal.

[@Fabiani930]

We call them "golden threads" in Portugal too among other names depending on the region.

[@arianhrodkeltoi8104]

Maria Guyomar (Guiomar) is a typical portuguese name.

[@crimsonsnow4465]

Something to always to keep in mind in cooking seems to be: The lesser the amount of ingredients needed, the harder the dish is to get right.

[@TastingHistory]

So true!

[@poiuytrewq11422]

Fried Eggs beg to differ

[@Tentaclestudio1]

Mmm.. I think fried eggs are simple once you know how, but if the cooking oil is too hot ... Or the top of the white is not set, or the yoke breaks... still plenty of room for disaster in the humble fried egg!

[@groofay]

@@Tentaclestudio1 Agreed here, I know theoretically how to make a fried egg, and sometimes do it well, but the fact that all the steps need to be done perfectly makes it deceptively difficult.

[@Dr.Yalex.]

@@poiuytrewq11422 LOL, actually a well fried egg is a well described culinary difficulty...and main reason there are "breakfast" cooks. Example: to make "killer" over-easy eggs, has taken me years to perfect. LOL

[@brunooliveira-js1oi]

My grandmother use to make "fio de ovos". She passed away this year, I almost cried through the video, not the what I expected from the channel.

[@serendipityme9371]

My mum used to make this, it was my favourite when I was a child. Sometimes I can close my eyes and still taste it and see her smile at my pleasure. Thank you Max for bringing back such a beautiful memory.

[@david_contente]

I love the brazilian pronunciation in the video ahahahaha lmfão

[@CraftingStudios1337]

May she rest in peace my friend . Much love

[@USMarshmallow]

May her memory be a blessing for you and all who knew her. I'm so sorry for your loss.

[@s.baldrick870]

"fios de ovos"

[@energuminum]

Great video! A curiosity about the Portuguese bringing foods to Japan: On the way to Japan, the Portuguese would stop at Cambodia, and they picked up a kind of squash, that they would just call Cambodia squash. When trading with the Japanese, the Japanese called it Kabocha squash. It became more popular in Japan than with the Portuguese, so nowadays in Brazilian Portuguese we use the name Kabocha squash, even though the name came from Cambodia squash. History is weird like that!

[@sarahwatts7152]

I love how weird this is!

[@julesdrey7415]

I wonder if the history of persimmons coming to Brazil is similar since we also use the Japanese word for them.

[@Drebin416]

Kabocha means pumpkin!

[@b.a.erlebacher1139]

And this squash, a variety of Cucurbita maxima, came from the Americas originally. It's basically what we call Buttercup but bred to have a reduced "button" on the end. It's popular in Korean cuisine as well. Really interesting the journey this squash has made. I wonder how it got to Cambodia. IIRC, Cambodia is Kampuchea in Cambodian, which is closer to kabocha.

[@Archihuman]

@@julesdrey7415 Chamam-lhe caquis no Brazil? em Portugal, são "diospiros"

[@iveyao120]

I did remember visiting Japan years ago, and we couldn’t speak the language then, but being Chinese, we could read the Kanji on the signs. That exchange with the Japanese and Chinese man reminded me of that.

[@indiomie]

that's something i'm very curious about. does it flow the same way? or do you have to adjust for dialects, or the language and stuff?

[@andrewli6606]

@@indiomie modern Japanese isn’t readable to Chinese people anymore. To simplify, Japanese script has 3 kinds of characters, Chinese characters called kanji, which are pictographic, and hiragana and katakana, which are both phonetic letters. While hiragana and katakana were created in the 8th century, they weren’t codified until 1900, so very old Japanese can be written all in Chinese characters. There were probably some grammatical differences, but close enough that a Chinese person and Japanese person could understand each other. Today, a Chinese person might be able to get a gist of what a Japanese sentence is talking about, but probably not as well centuries ago.

[@shaggycan]

Yeah I noticed. When he said the Portuguese were called Nanban, I was like hey that almost exactly the same in Chinese. (Nanman = southern barbarian)

[@lilychu8912]

Same for my parents. They visited Japan a few years ago and when their rudimentary Japanese failed them, they would try writing Chinese characters to communicate in a basic way. It did work several times. (I can speak Chinese fluently. A couple times, since there are many Chinatowns around the world, I got by on my Chinese when English or my very basic version of the visited country's language failed.) (The Castella cake can be found at many Japanese/ Korean bakeries today, including those in the US. It is yummy and nanban chicken is on some Japanese menus. In HK, the Portuguese of course contributed to the development of 2 types of egg tarts.)

[@noroiko7996]

Back in those days, the Japanese village chief in the story and the Chinese scholar would likely have learned Classical Literary Chinese writing , and I would guess that's what they communicated in. Compared to Chinese people going to Japan and looking at the kanji or vice versa, they probably could communicate in writing much better back then, as it was more or less the same language. (However they would not speak it in the same way and it was primarily a written language only, so they could not communicate verbally). Technically schools in both China and Japan still teach Classical Literary Chinese, now called 文言文 in China and 漢文 in Japan. But I doubt the average person knows it well enough to even think of using it to communicate xD

[@DLFH]

This channel has been the cause of many dish revivals for various meals.

[@erdnasiul87]

It's fio de ovos, very common in Portugal and portuguese speaking countries

[@leademi1387]

I tried the saffron rice and OMFG was it delicious! I did it on the risotto setting of my rice cooker and it came out fantastic! It’s now a staple side dish for me to take to gatherings.

[@TD-ug4mg]

I say this channel and Townsend's are driving a resurgence in old dishes. Both equally wonderful channels

[@rookierook99]

Townsends too with their 18th Century American cooking

[@timpauwels3734]

Also Historical Italian Cooking I made a Roman beef stew “Copadia”for lockdown Christmas dinner 2 years ago and it was absolutely out of this world!

[@TheWhiteDragon3]

I love the history from the first contact between the Portuguese and Japanese. It's so incredibly detailed and well recorded even with excellent art depicting events. Plus the haughty language looking down on the Europeans while still being immaculately polite and genuinely interested in their cultural differences especially tickles me.

[@globalist1990]

The funniest thing is both sides considered theirs the most civilised. It's a bit sad the Portuguese weren't a bit more tactful about Japanese beliefs and tried to impose their religion a bit too hard. I think they could have so much to learn from each other at the time to find out that maybe they had so much more in common than differences.

[@miguelpadeiro762]

​@@globalist1990The Portuguese motto of exploration and the whole reason we ventured into unknown oceans could be summed in three points 1. Find riches in the form of the spice trade to appease merchants 2. Find lands to conquer to appease the nobility 3. Find new peoples to convert to appease the clergy These cultural clashes of history are so interesting, especially this one which is so contrasting, it's kinda sad we had to go with point 3 and shit Jesuit missionaries out of our ships lol :t At least we did get something from them culturally, in Portuguese we call a machete a "catana" which comes from Katana

[@globalist1990]

@@miguelpadeiro762 the spice trade benefit was cutting off middle men, namely ottomans, Arabs, people from North Africa and also Venetians and other Europeans. They just rolled up their sleeves and said f it let's get it ourselves. About territorial expansion, I don't think Portugal was too keen on it. Maybe basically Brazil. African territories were most coastal fortified cities to support the ships and trade with the mainland they were located in. Angola and Mozambique were severely underdeveloped and most development actually came to support the Portuguese military fighting in the colonial wars in the 20th century. About the religion it's more than that, everyone was Catholic to the point of fanatic zeal (inquisitions, anyone?), they actually believed they were saving people's souls, and bringing them to the light and civilising them. And in a way they actually were. Europe brought lots of benefits to the world, along with all the problems I guess. You bring an interesting point about the Jesuits which were actually not Portuguese, it was a Catholic international institution. Were they replaced with normal Portuguese people, the interaction might have proven to be much more beneficial for both parts.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

For the Japanese, you can pretty much blame that on quasi-Confucianist sentiments. While Japan does not fully embrace Confucianism as much as Joseon-ruled Korea and China, remnants of their beliefs (such as cultural exceptionalism) still remain. The fact that they have no word for "foreigner" but used "barbarian" to refer to such is an example of that...

[@Kamamura2]

@@globalist1990 Catholics and polite? LOL! The pope has issued a bull called "Et Ceteram" that among other things divided the New World to two parts - one should be ruled by the Spanish, and second by the Portuguese, regardless of the will and well-being of the native people. Catholic religion is the most aggressive, intolerant and expansionist monotheistic system (together with the Islam).

[@jessicacabral9867]

I am portuguese! I loved the video! Usually, we don't eat "fios de ovos" on its own. We like to garnish desserts with this type of egg noodle. In the '90s we used to decorate cakes with "fios de ovos". We still do nowadays, but not as much as a few years ago.

[@carloshenriquezimmer7543]

Same here in Brazil, at least in the south. I mean, the country is the size of a continent, I don't know how they would enjoy this in the north.

[@BathroomTile]

I don't know, there's the lampreia de ovos which is at least for me a popular christmas desert that's basically just fios de ovos, there's the dom rodrigos from Algarve which is a little fios de ovos bundle with cinamon and almonds, there's the trouxas de ovos which are filled with fios de ovos. Funnily enough I don't remember ever eating it as a cake topping.

[@ruialmeida818]

Em Aveiro comes fios de ovos como sobremesa. Fios de ovos, lampreia de ovos e ovos moles são as sobremesas mais famosas nesta zona.

[@ruialmeida818]

@@BathroomTile In Aveiro its the same way - you have fios de ovos with pretty much everything, and they are also served on their own.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

Ooh, that's the kind of fancy cake decoration I can get behind.

[@sergiocecilio5938]

Hi Max! I'm Portuguese and my wife is a baker and makes fios de ovos! Fios de Ovos, Créme brulée, Pão de Ló (the portuguese version of that sponge cake that Japanese cook in pots, and other kinds of sweets made of egg yolks happened because in monasteries the egg whites were used to iron priests and nun's clothes, so they had lots of egg yolk surplus, and used to invent these delicacies. We call them "Doces Conventuais" Greetings from Portugal

[@mollyscozykitchen4693]

Max saying “I was a fool” in reference to the simplicity of the recipe hit close to home! The fewer ingredients, the trickier the technique. Loved this episode, a lot of the themes are relevant to my history class.

[@filipasales9291]

😂That's true. I'm Portuguese and I'm screaming at this video, this is so easy if you know differents points of the sugar with water.😂 But learning the difference is the issue.

[@capuchinosofia4771]

​@@filipasales9291do you have any extra tips for cooking this dish? Im thinking of making it for breakfast tomorrow!

[@filipasales9291]

@@capuchinosofia4771 That's the problem it's something I know from watching it be made. If I try explaining without you seing it, it won't work. Let me try to find a Portuguese video.

[@kulawittumwongyuen813]

In Thailand, we also inherited this recipe from Portuguese during Ayutthaya period. We named it 'Foi Tong : ฝอยทอง' which means Golden Threads (well, it should be 'Tong' rather than 'Thong' because the phonics of the letter 'ท' is more like 't' rather than 'th'). Normally we prefer using duck eggs for this recipe. Sometimes a combination between duck eggs and chicken eggs (like 15 duck eggs and 5 chicken eggs). In Thailand, we normally use jasmine fragrance water and drop some pandan leaves in the water.

[@ParinandVarnasavang]

I prefer not to use fragrance water at all because it subdues the eggy flavor which charaterizes this dessert.

[@miamorg2352]

Saw this recipe and thought it "looks like ฝอยทอง" ❤

[@fren111]

you can say what you want about the portuguese people but their cuisine is godlike, especially the sweets, they must have the most underrated cuisine in the world

[@jetfowl]

Definitely the pastries. I have to limit myself when I see them, otherwise I'd end up being a round ball.

[@hj-ct2qi]

so true, as an american the thing i remember most about my trip to northern Portugal eleven years ago was buying a random pastry for a euro at an open-air market in Ponte de Lima and having it be the best baked good i had ever tasted. i've traveled internationally much more since then and nothing has come close.

[@gandalfgrey91]

What do you mean say what you want about Portuguese people??

[@macbrown99]

@@gandalfgrey91 Portuguese people are quick to offend you see, a distinct failing. We forgive them only because of the quality of their sugary noodles.

[@gandalfgrey91]

@@macbrown99 Its your fault I’m angry 🤣

[@thoufeelali147]

Hey. I am from Kerala, India, and I grew up eating "Muttamala" the South Indian version of this dish, although I knew that the dish is directly influenced by the Portuguese I didn't know that it had other regional variations 😄

[@lunan5197]

Lots of Malayalee dishes come from the Portuguese! Obviously dishes like stew and puffs are Portuguese, but so is puttu and vindaloo which is soooo interesting to me. Lots of our dishes come from the Dutch too actually! Like palappam and acchappam are Dutch. Kerala is soooo interesting because it has such a complex global culture that basically no one outside (or inside) Kerala really thinks about.

[@vanessacurcio4618]

Incredible!!! In Brazil it is no longer a trend, it is disappearing, unfortunately. I love them, and all the birthday cakes in my childhood had these as toppings. Lovely!!! Thank you so much for this history!!!!!!!

[@CarlGorn]

Well, now you have inspiration to make them yourself and keep them alive in the culture. I'm tempted to try them myself, assuming I can find or fashion an appropriate dispenser.

[@carloshenriquezimmer7543]

Some bakeries here in Rio Grande do Sul still make them as toppings for cakes And you can find them to sale at supermarkets too, but I am not so much of a sweet tooth, so I may not even noticed if they had become rare.

[@ciello___8307]

Its not really a thing in japan either

[@DaviRenania]

Here in Rio you can find it in most bakeries.

[@ruialmeida818]

In the region of Aveiro, in the North of Portugal, it is still very popular. In fact, the conventual desserts are still very popular across the country, but in Aveiro you have Fios de Ovos, Lampreia de Ovos, and Ovos moles, which are quite famous, and rightly so.

[@claramoniz6542]

Southern barbarian here! 🙋‍♂️🤣 loved the video. Another one is bread and how Japan and Korea prononces its same is similar to portuguese pan=pão 😊

[@melissamoonchild9216]

there's actually a number of words in Japanese that come from Portuguese

[@mongeeses7112]

Portugal had a huge influence on cuisine from all types of places. Fish and Chips are derived from Spanish and Portuguese Jews who immigrated to the UK (The Portuguese where big on frying things apparently). Chinese egg tarts (a childhood favorite of mine) are derived from pastel de nata and variations on it are still big in former Portuguese colonies and influenced places. Getting back to Japan there’s a lot of Portuguese derived words; one you didn’t cover is that the Japanese word for bread, pan, is from the Portuguese word for bread pão (the accent makes it sound like there’s an n at the end).

[@emmitstewart1921]

Hey Max, looks like you need to look up a few Portuguese cookbooks.

[@barrymalkin4404]

@@emmitstewart1921 Max could do a lot worse. Portuguese food is wonderful, especially its baked goods which the half Portuguese Emeril Lagasse featured in many of his recipes. Their desserts could be meals unto themselves.

[@jaredthehawk3870]

Pan could also come from Spanish, as Pan is the Spanish word for bread.

[@saber2802]

So how does Pão differ from Pan as in the Spanish language for bread?

[@emmitstewart1921]

@@barrymalkin4404 That's what I meant. I've never eaten Portuguese food, but its reputation is immense, and I'd like to know more.

[@anaeliziario1413]

I was so impressed they eat fios de ovos for so long in Japan... or discovering they eat them at all! I am Brazilian and here it is kind of a grandma style dessert. It is eaten on Christmas night (we have a feast at midnight on December 24th) or used to decorate birthday cakes or puddings. Love your work, Max!

[@luciogama5778]

I believe the main reason for not tasting "eggy" is that you remove the yolk membranes when sieving. Three same is done with other Portuguese/Brazilian recipes such as quindim and flan.

[@JT-yj3tr]

Quindim is awesome. My childhood sweets.

[@danisteffen-translations]

Exactly! Quindim is another nightmare to make. You have to be skilled to make these recipes with eggs, it is not just mixing things with a blender or mixer and putting them in the oven. Several steps, specific temperatures, moving your hand in a specific way during a specific time, and so on...

[@anthonyragan2696]

That was one of the most interesting history segments you've had in a long time. I'd never realized the Portuguese had such an influence on Japanese cuisine.

[@eduardoavm4197]

And the other way around. The word Biombo (folding screen) is a Japanese word that we still use in Portugal. As for the Spanish-Portuguese controversy over pão, let's remember that the crowns of Portugal and Spain were unified in 1580 (up to 1640). So you had a period since 1543 to 1580 with was pretty much Portuguese exclusive and another later period in which is more probable that some Spanish were involved, mostly in the religious orders. Spanish presence were never massive compared to the Portuguese. Although under the same king, Portugal and Spain were not integrated. So it is quite strange that the Japanese pan would come specially from the Spanish pan instead of the Portuguese pão (that we really don't know how was pronounced in 1500s).

[@Fabiani930]

The "Tempura" technique was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese too. and our word for bread is "Pão" which the Japanese use a similar word since we introduced it too.

[@josuenogueira5719]

@@eduardoavm4197 I would assume that Japanese couldn't pronounce the nasal sound of the ~ and sounded like pan when trying to say it. If you remove the nasal sound it does more closely sound like pan than pão even though it came from the portuguese word.

[@antonioencarnacao708]

And to Indian food. For example tomatoes and chilis found their way to India with the Portuguese.

[@miguelpadeiro762]

​@@eduardoavm4197It's very fair to assume they just translated our Pão to Pan and not necessarily borrow it from the Spanish. A good example from this is modern Japanese borrowings from English and how they change the words to sound "more Japanese" And making Pão Pan is very understandable given its really hard for foreigners to read the -ão diphthong

[@Kentanimationnnnnnnnn]

growing up i was taught japanese at home by my mom and went to a japanese saturday school. i knew some japanese words had foreign origins but never actually knew where they came from - just kind of accepted and understood it inherently... kastella was mind blowing

[@priscilabuchguth4175]

It was funny to see your surprise 😅 As Brazilian, I grew up with a popular bakery dessert called “lata de lixo” (don’t let the name fool you - translates to garbage can but it’s really good!), made of a chocolate cake base extra moist (you would use maraschino or other liquid to make it REALLY moisty!), in a case of milk chocolate which would be then filled to the top with chantilly and topped with fios de ovos and a maraschino cherry. Seriously, Brazilian bakeries are one of the things I missed the most living abroad: childhood memories linked to visiting them and seeing the displays full of sonhos, bombas de chocolate, pães de queijo and be able to ask for a pão na chapa or a misto quente…. Sweet memories 😊

[@JT-yj3tr]

Agree. Brazilian sweets are one of the best, but if they would cut down the sugar, would be better. After moving abroad, a I then realized how sweet our Brazilian desserts are.

[@AstarionWifey]

Garbage can cake 🎂 sounds intriguing ❤

[@priscilabuchguth4175]

@@JT-yj3tr true to that! It sometimes looks like condensate milk is almost everywhere 😂 Still, gotta say I can’t get over how different the idea of carrot cale is between Brazil and UK…

[@DaviRenania]

@@JT-yj3tr Yeah, we do exagerate on the sugar

[@danisteffen-translations]

Agree TOTALLY. Any type of pão doce. So difficult to reproduce here in the USA.

[@pswinck]

In Brazil you know Christmas is coming because you start seeing fios de ovos and panetone everywhere. I love it! Fios de ovos are really sweet but if eaten with moderation, they are delicious, specially with a savory dish

[@gabrielandradeferraz386]

depends on what state you are. I only see panetone

[@ruialmeida818]

Greetings Max. Portugal has a huge tradition of what we call Conventual Sweets (literally translated) - the most famous one is the custard tart, but there are a huge collection of such desserts. The one you presented here is a derivation of Egg Strings (fios de ovos). Conventual desserts usually have a huge amount of egg yolks - the nuns used to use egg whites as starch for pressing their clothes, so they tended to have a huge amount of yolks available. As such, and as a way to earn money for the convents, they tended to bake desserts to sell, and they used the yolks in those recipes.

[@kaveirinhaz]

Great video! Portuguese cuisine is the most underrated! Many tousands of tourists can vow to that! The cake you mention is the Pão-de-Ló that has many variations in Portugal. From fluffy and soft to slightly undercooked with some eggy dough still running. You can find all these Portuguese specialities in Newark or Toronto where there are largePortuguese communities.

[@DonyaLane]

The linguistic aspect of this history lesson was the most interesting to me. I enjoyed hearing the Japanese adaptations of the Portuguese and Spanish words.

[@LadyLunarSatine]

Regarding Japan's old religious-basis dietary laws; Japanese used certain "counter words" instead of just putting an s in front of the noun (like turkeys when you have more than one turkey) and it just so happens that "bird" and "rabbit" use the same counter word because it was a common practice for butchers who prized taste-over-laws to knowingly sell cuts of rabbit mixed in with their chicken offerings.

[@ethanmagnuson2988]

This is the sort of thing I love about human culture. A Portuguese recipe that has become part of the cuisine in Japan, Thailand, and Brazil. So cool.

[@ashmomofboys]

I worked at a restaurant in Aspen and the chef was Thai. She used to make these for the staff all the time. They are SO good.

[@ix8750]

Heck yeah Max! I'd be interested to see if there is any else interesting from the "southern barbarians cookbook" if that's possible. I knew the Portuguese landed on Japan but I didn't know they left their cookbook. 😂

[@nahor88]

It's lucky the Japanese didn't have enough "of value" to the Portuguese that they'd decide to build a colony like they did in India. The Portuguese gave us Vindaloo which is one of my favorite curries, but they weren't satisfied with "trading".

[@Dan-sw8tg]

@@nahor88 lololol very wrong what youve commented there. Japan just wasnt as easy to colonize as India and other places like Meso America or the Phillipines. Its not that the Portugese and Spanish didnt want it lol

[@Valathia]

@@nahor88 Yeah no, the Portuguese literally founded the city of Nagasaki. And that idea did come from the guy stationed in Goa. Sorry about Goa though.

[@Fabiani930]

Being Portuguese i can guarantee you that this barbarian cookbook is filled with absolute pearls. Portuguese cuisine is unfortunatly one of the most underrated. luckily (for all of you 🤣)thats changing

[@Fabiani930]

@@nahor88 Portugal only established a Colony because some of the locals refused to do business and they had to intervene militarily. Portugal´s first approach was to build cities and Feitorias (which are trading posts) being much easier to defend a fort than a vast territory. military conquest was always the last approach.

[@mungo...]

In Thailand we also sometimes add pandan leaves to the boiling sugar mixture to give it more flavour. A popular way to eat foi thong is in a crispy crepe filled with meringue (khanom buang/ขนมเบื้อง) or on a pandan or young coconut cake.

[@Definitely_not_Andrew_Yoshiaki]

Ohh a video about the country my family is from and where I'm currently residing, this is gonna be fun :D. Fun fact about the phrase "Nanban" and food: it's no surprise that Japan has a lot of culinary influences from the Portuguese, but we even actually have a food dish called "Nanban" today as well (spelled exactly the same as the original phrase). Usually prepared with Chicken (and thus often called "Chicken Nanban") but originally with fish, it is a dish often served at local mom and pop teishoku restaurants (restaurants that serve standard Japanese everyday meals such as rice, miso soup, and a platter of main dish such as fish and meat). It is called Nanban because the chicken or the fish is marinated in a sauce of vinegar, carrots, sugar and chili peppers and then fried and served with tartar sauce or with no sauce (this depends on the region). The marinated sauce is said to resemble Escabeche and is thought to have been brought by the Portuguese, hence the name. It's a hearty fried dish with a funny historical name and origin and I can definitely recommend it. Another fun Portuguese influence but with a unique name is the "castella," a type of moist cake that usually comes with a distinctive yellow cake and brown outer edges. While the taste has been adopted to the Japanese palette, it has a distinct Portuguese-Spanish influence, as while the cake is brought by the Portuguese, the cake was called "bolo de Castela," in reference to the former kingdom/region in Spain: Castille. This Spanish style Portuguese cake, is quite popular now in Japan that its often either served or used as a gift for those meeting people they haven't seen in a while (thats the best way to explain that omotenashi thing). Gift giving and reciprocal gift giving, especially confectionary is a surprisingly big manner thing in Japan, and castella is very often used for that and quite popular. Edit: As I finish writing this down the Castella cake is mentioned and I'm like: "yay" ahaha.

[@vascomanata]

nice!! You need to try escabeche eels! especially when they're cold! Super light flavour, acid but very, very tasty!

[@guilhermebraga2545]

The Portuguese word for the cake is "pão de ló" or "bolo em castelo", which refers to the way the eggs are made "claras em castelo" (whipped egg whites). It's likely that the "castelo" was confused with the Spanish region called castella.

[@zenkakuji3776]

Obrigado! This noodle dish is new to me, but I did enjoy the barbarian's Tempura while living in Japan as well as the Casutera cake with sweetened adzuki beans on the side ☺️ I especially enjoyed tempura made with thinly sliced Japanese pumpkin / squash "kabocha". A thick skinned squash that has a rich deep flavor.

[@sasusquatch]

I studied abroad in Nagasaki back in 2018 and probably ate more castella cake than was absolutely necessary 😅Great video, definitely made me a little bit nostalgic. I also had no idea that konpeito came from a Portuguese word, you learn something new every day!

[@zeppelincraft1443]

They go really well with brandy or whiskey.

[@TheRealCobra1117]

I always love these "small number ingredients, huge amount of technique" recipes! BTW, I would love to see German Schneeballen covered. They're delicious, and there's surprisingly little info on their history online.

[@Gitaki]

This was such a fun episode to watch. I've lived in the US since I was 6-years-old but I'm from Brazil originally. In Brazil we use these egg noodles, or "fios de ovo" as we call them, to decorate cakes and desserts. It was awesome to learn some history about food from my childhood. Big fan! I can't wait to get your recipe book in the mail next year. Thank you for the amazing show!

[@lockboxDAI]

can we take a moment to appreciate max navigating all these new but ancient words? Every episode has its share but I feel this one was especially laden with verbal minefields!

[@bananawitchcraft]

If only Simon Whistler would take a page out of Max's book. I watch a zillion of the guy's channels, and he's alright, but the childish insistence on botching pronunciations gets a little wearisome. Not caring is the norm. It takes a special type of person to actually care about these things, and I think it shows character.

[@MossyMozart]

@@bananawitchcraft - I used to work in an in-patient pediatric ward when we admitted a sick infant accompanied by her mother who did not speak English. My fellow nurse, who spoke Spanish, went to talk to her and came out of the room annoyed and shaking her head in dismay stating that the mom was really stupid and refused to speak to her. I went in and said one word, "Portuguese?" The momma enthusiastically shook her head yes, so I sent for a Portuguese translator. All was well. Don't let appearances fool you. Looking "Hispanic" doesn't mean that someone speaks Spanish.

[@ruialmeida818]

@@MossyMozart Yes, we tend to understand Spanish, if people speak slowly, but it tends to be hard for Spanish speakers to understand us (unless they are from Galicia).

[@TheElefanteBranco]

@@bananawitchcraft And yet he said "fios de ovos" as a brazillian would, botching the portuguese pronunciation.

[@julgrafia]

I'm from Brazil and my Portuguese grandma always made fios de ovos around Christmas time, along with Portuguese nuts and queijo do reino

[@fernandoarraes8601]

This is probably one of the best KZbin channels I’ve ever seen, you put so much effort into your content and it contains so much substance. I love history and I love food, so finding this is like finding a treasure

[@stickychocolate8155]

Welcome. You have found one of the greatest channels on the platform. Townsends is another channel you've probably heard of. But their channel is limited to a very specific era of cooking in Britain and mostly America.

[@HayTatsuko]

I love how you make your culinary history lessons so darned engaging. Been watching a while now and wanted to express how much I appreciate them.

[@TastingHistory]

Thank you so much!

[@velazquezarmouries]

"They are not very strange and they are quite harmless " How did that Chinese scholar described me so well

[@TastingHistory]

😂

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

"Mostly harmless." - the description of Earth, in full, from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[@teslashark]

He's actually not just a scholar, but a businessman who does pirate side jobs, you can search for 五峰船主汪直 on more things about him

[@尘-s8b]

My dude did not foresee the colonization happening 😂 but then again he wasn't with the Anglos so

[@velazquezarmouries]

@@尘-s8b the Portuguese were relatively chill

[@sarahmancebo5142]

Would love to see a video on Tempura, Max! My husband and I are Americans that just moved to Japan, but both of my in-laws are first generation Americans from Portugal. So cool to see the history between the two people groups!!!!

[@MartimCorreia10]

We Portuguese invented tempura

[@Ammeeeeeeer]

Ah, not surprised this is of Portugese origin. We have something similar to this, the name literally translated as "gold net" and its just one of many dishes influenced by the Portugese being one of our past colonial masters. My late mom loved this stuff, I thought it was ok 😁

[@lunan5197]

Where are you from?

[@jayjaybee]

I love that we have this perspective! So often, we never get primary source accounts from non-Europeans on how they felt.

[@sandydee8003]

I love how you pronounce everything so beautifully. But it’s easier for me to just call it “Hammertime Eggs”

[@Archihuman]

In all honesty, his euro-portuguese pronunciation wasn't particularly good, it was more like Spanish. His Brazilian-Portuguese pronunciation was pretty decent though

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

I think that captures the essence of the dish.

[@ParinandVarnasavang]

Foi thong and other Portuguese-influenced desserts were first introduced to Siamese people in the mid-17th century when Maria Guyomar de Pinha, a half-Japanese Portuguese lady, brought the dessert to the Court of Ayutthaya during the reign of King Narai. Maria was married to Constantine Phaulkon, a Greek adventurer who became chief minister to King Narai of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Since then, foi thong has been a part of Thai culinary tradition.

[@thaismoreiraq]

Fios de ovos - it is very popular in Brazil - we eat with cakes in special occasions such as weddings. I love it and will try to make it

[@PilsnerGrip]

When you revealed how the "harmless" traders sold guns, I got chills.. History is so fascinating and the arrow of time cannot be stopped. And causality is a harsh mistress...

[@fishingacnh9345]

I have the modern version of the cookbook called Southern Barbarian Cooking. Was shocked to find tokanstu was based on Portuguese dish!

[@JT-yj3tr]

Oh that’s interesting. I knew tonkatsu was European influence in Japanese food, but I thought the Japanese got from the German Schnitzel.

[@beatstorm9676]

17:18 I saw this video today, for those that are asking why the noodles didn't melt... It's because the protein of the yolk is denaturalized, making it more firm and more stable.

[@GilAsakawa]

Terrific episode, and I'm glad you've found a source for historical Japanese cuisine. Thanks, I learned a lot, and I'm looking forward to your recreations of tempura and other Japanese dishes that were appropriated from the Portuguese!

[@Fortunes.Fool.]

My mom was Portuguese and I lived in Japan, this episode was really cool.

[@nunoalexandre6408]

Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@HenningGu]

I extremely fascinated about them using Chinese characters written in the f beach to communicate. My mother had absolutely no difficulty navigating around Tokyo when we visited because she could still read some traditional Chinese characters. (I can only read simplified and reading is stretching it.) Just thinking about how Hanzi, Hanja and Kanji mostly retained their meaning across three different languages is kinda mind-blowing and really...... hmmmworthy. I mean, the Latin alphabet is used in many languages but I couldn't read or write French the same way I could read or write German and English.

[@b0rbifett]

As a Thai and avid lover of Foi Tong, I was really happy to see this on my favourite channel 🥰 Try a bit of jasmine water in the syrup and lower the heat a liiiiiiittle bit! ❤❤

[@prapanthebachelorette6803]

Haha me too. Foi tong is delicious 🤤

[@TheGreatRio]

A lot of Japanese words are actually directly taken from Portuguese, look no further than the word "bread", which in Portuguese is "pão", which has been adapted in Japan as "pan" and is the normal word used for bread. Many words like "soap" (sabão/shabon) and even the word they use for "English" (inglez/igirisu) is straight from Portoguese. It really can't be overstated how much influence the Portuguese had on the Japanese way of life, both in tools and foods as well as language.

[@marmotarchivist]

The Portuguese introduced words like Pan and Karameru, meanwhile the first German word that comes to mind is “Arbeit”/work. It’s used as “(Aru)baito”/part-time work.😅

[@jaredthehawk3870]

Pan is also the Spanish word for bread so it probably came from the Spanish rather than the Portuguese.

[@shortties]

@@jaredthehawk3870 Panis is the Latin word for bread. The Spanish pan, the Portuguese pão and French pain derive from this Latin root. But this word was introduced to Japan by Portuguese Missionaries. Just see the "Silence" movie from Martin Scorcese.

[@GODAXEN]

@@shortties but it can perfectly came from the Spanish word because not all of the Portuguese missionaries were from Portugal as some of them where from Spain, this has to do with the monastic orders and not the countries, likewise the reverse also happened. Also sailors from Portugal and Spain in the same ship was not unheard and this has to do of how sailors lived and the port where the ship parted.

[@Tinky1rs]

@@marmotarchivist That might be a shared one with the Dutch that seeped through. I recall there being some trading of chemistry/medicine with the Japanese that gave them words for glass, chemicals and related devices. The Dutch don't use the word arbeid as much anymore.

[@mglenadel]

Oh, the making of fios de ovos… it takes me back to the late 1980s, when I was a teenager living abroad in the US. My mom was a great cook, and being far from Brazil for Christmas (when fios de ovos was more commonly eaten) made her want to make some for an expat wives luncheon. Thankfully I was a model maker and skilled in metalwork. I ended up making a funnel like you’ve shown on the video, and mom used it to make the noodles. One addition, though: she used put some orange blossom syrup with the sugar syrup. Oh how I miss her and her cooking. ❤ love you mom!

[@a_funyun]

You have been on a streak lately, I feel like so many videos have come out recently!! I love it

[@TastingHistory]

Every Tuesday and sometimes Friday 😁

[@TastingHistory]

New one every Tuesday (sometimes Friday too)

[@dawne6419]

@@TastingHistory I was talking to a friend the other day about KZbin channels we follow, and while I do follow some prolific people, I do believe you are the only one who is 100% consistent. You've been sick, out of the country, on a honeymoon, and your videos drop every Tuesday morning without fail. Hats off to you, sir! 🥂

[@TastingHistory]

@@dawne6419 thank you! I like to plan ahead 😁

[@lilasnowflake5632]

i accidentally paused at 17:57 and the face of both what seemed like shock, horror, awe, wonder, fear. all at the same time sent me over off my chair laughing

[@freelancepear87kakkoka11]

hah, portuguese and their mc hammer pants! seriously this is one of the most fascinating periods in japanese history, i love looking at how these two foreign (almost alien) cultures saw each other and how they affected each other. this recipe also seems like one of the few ones i could actually do but i don't like the idea of having a wok pan full of boiling sugar.

[@JohnDoe-yq1sx]

It looks a lot like jalebi from South Asia, idk if it was related to the Portuguese who maybe could have introduced this style to us but I would highly recommend you try that too. It's like a golden batter that fried in oil in a very similar style to those egg yolk noodles and then soaked in sugar syrup. You'll find it sold in pretty much any south Asian sweets shop but there are different styles depending on what country/region.

[@noway9081]

My favorite episodes are the ones you do involving cultural exchange and this one is my new favorite ☺️

[@satanmitdengeilenbarthaaren]

The short hammertime edit cracked me up 😂 that was wonderful

[@Pablito003]

The "addiction" to sugar in Portuguese cuisine (and that of the entire Iberian peninsula) is largely due to the almost 800 years of Arab and Moorish presence, it was these people who brought sugar cane and all the very sweet dishes that Portuguese cuisine (and our Brazilian) has until today. Fio de Ovos, is still found in the kitchen of the northeast region of Brazil. Obrigado mais uma vez!!!

[@erzsebetkovacs2527]

It's not just the Arab influence. Sugar was considered a healthy, nutritionally superior foodstuff by contemporary medicine. It was also expensive, so that's why they liked it so much.

[@Pablito003]

@@erzsebetkovacs2527 Europeans knew some ways of sweetening, some came from beets and others came largely from honey. Sugar derived from sugar cane was brought through the Arabs starting with Egypt, then Sicily and Spain (and the Iberian peninsula) during the 10th century onwards, after which sugar cane landed on Brazilian lands and has been part of our history ever since. . Sugar was a huge part of Arab and Moorish cuisine and both the Portuguese and the Spaniards inherited it, just as we Brazilians also inherited it.

[@HolyKhaaaaan]

Muslim, Jew, or Christian, all eat and drink. To some degree, all eat together, in hopes that we may all be one again someday. I have hope that those times me and my enemies have fed each other will be considered good and salutary in the eyes of God.

[@erzsebetkovacs2527]

@@Pablito003 Beets were not used as a sweetener before the modern invention of beet sugar. That's because ancient cultivars did not yet have the succulent roots that modern cultivars do. So the Ancient Greeks, Romans, also medieval people used beet tops for leafy greens and the roots as a medicinal ingredient. On the other hand, Ancient Greeks learned about sugar cane when Alexander the Great came close to invading India, as well, but cane sugar would not become a relatively widely known and used commodity till the Arabs. So, classical texts mention sugar cane as an exotic plant, which has a salt-like substance in it, also for medical use.

[@ruialmeida818]

In the Aveiro Region, in the north of Portugal, the egg based desserts varieties is immense. Fios de ovos, lampreia de ovos, ovos moles, are some of the most appreciated ones. Um abraço do Porto

[@jcguimas]

My mother would do ' fios de ovos' with some little variations : adding fine grated orange peel to the egg and sugar misture, keep it ,in a big cristal covered bowl in a light sugar and orange bosson syrup. Another more for the adults version was keeping it in a sugar and rum syrup. Both delicious and always a great success served after meals.

[@mephitamer]

So cool to know this! Here in Portugal it's still pretty common. You can find them in the supermarket, or decorating some cakes. Now with the festivities approaching is even more common!

[@littlelifes]

In Portugal we also have a special utensil to make the “fios de ovos”. We do have funnels with multiple holes, but also something more like a watering can. Usually with four to six holes.

[@LeonardoMayDwarvenWay]

We have a similar dish here in Brazil called "cabelo de anjo", which means "angel's hair". It's often used on top of cakes and other sweets. Loved the video, as always!

[@shadowsinmymind9]

We have that too in Portugal and we do the same with the cakes

[@Cibershadow2]

I just love seeing every single Portuguese person in the comments being super happy about their childhood dessert being made. Also very funny how they all mention the same story of the nuns ironing clothes! My mom mentioned it instantly as soon as I told her about this video. Thank you for this Max! We're very happy you're enjoying our food :)

[@VeryCuteGM]

My family is from Thailand and my mom made this when I was a kid. When i brought them to school they were always a hit.

[@tztzt1479]

Hello from Portugal, I leave you some tips from my great grandmother, who in turn learned from her grandmother when she served the nobles in her time, a few centuries ago. According to the Portuguese recipe, some points are missing, perhaps the verbal indications that were missing in the document would be some of these that I will try to explain: The liquid egg strands must not go directly into the sugar syrup (that would be approximately 1k of sugar for half a liter of water), they are actually cooked under the stove at medium low heat in the foam created by the sugar, for this foam to occur a small amount of egg yolk diluted in water is added to the sugar syrup before starting to make the egg strands. If the mixture stops foaming, then add more egg diluted in water. The egg should always be cooked in the foam! After the egg is cooked, it is taken together by a wide kitchen utensil and washed for 3 or 4 seconds in cold ice water and then left to drain as shown in the video until completely dry. (the water must be replaced if not ice cold) Many variants exist with different flavor results, one of the most notable would be the mixture of alcoholic beverages such as various types of pomace, liqueurs and orange peel and other citrus. More little tricks are used but of course that also comes with experience, good cooking everyone, hope it helps.

[@Erik_Swiger]

Max, you know what might be a great video idea is if you selected 5-10 courses that you would include in a feast. Any items from any period in history, that you think would make an awesome and eye-opening meal, with courses that you might find in a restaurant.

[@ruicorreia5972]

From Portugal big love to your video. Two usefull tips for the making of Eggs Threads or Fios de Ovos that i learned. Instead of stirring the egg yolk with the spoon , try to gently cut the eggs yolks membrane with a knife and let them open, if you stir to much, it will affect the texture and colour of the final product. The second tip is, before you start boilling the egg threads. Beat some egg whites to a stiff peak, and as soon as the sugar is dissolved in the hot water, add the whisked egg whites , let them cook a few seconds, remove the whisked egg whites with a spoon, and then feel free to proceed to prepare the Egg Threads. This will prevent the appearance of sugar crystals in the egg threads once they start cooling.

[@Azaghal1988]

I always love when you do sweet dishes. When it comes to tasting you always light up the room (you can't hide that you're a sweettooth) and somehow the good vibes are infectious!^^

[@88divinegrace]

I'd like to learn more about Portuguese and Japanese interactions and recipes. Looking forward to the tempura episode and many more. Thank you for sharing.

[@bojuka]

I don't know how people call it in other countries, but this dish is called "Cabelo de Anjo" in Brazil, which is portuguese for "Angel's Hair". Here, we eat it mostly as a christmas side dish and I quite enjoy it. Great video! Learned lot's today with it.

[@shadowsinmymind9]

We have this in Portugal too

[@rafaelagoncalves8825]

há zonas no brasil em que chamam "fios de ovos" também

[@snickersblah]

I have never heard of any dish even close to something like this. Fascinating!

[@wren7248]

The history of tempura sounds really interesting, I really hope you do end up doing a video on it the future!

[@raquelolegario6467]

I’m Brazilian and grew up with this treat for special occasions. The first time I made this in England, my friends thought it was pasta (or straw) 😊 Thanks Max for all your great videos!

[@tamaliaalisjahbana6849]

Thank you this was so interesting. The Portuguese custard tarts are also made all over the world such as in Indonesia for example.

[@shadowsinmymind9]

Wow, really? Im glad your people enjoy them as much as we do ☺️

[@MsRuthK]

I love this channel! I am a huge foodie and a huge history buff. I have done online cooking courses of ancient recipes and this channel fits right in. Thank you for this!

[@PokhrajRoy.]

I was about to blast into how ‘Vite Ramen’ should be pronounced but I remembered the Pemmican Episode where you did a great impression of my kind so I kept quiet. Thank you for clearing it up.

[@TastingHistory]

😂

[@Arielprincesssara]

My favourite treat during christmas! Here in Portugal you can get "fios de ovos" all year long to decorate cakes and desserts but during christmas we go bananas for it , its great with fresh fruits, really nice contrast) , I'm glad as always to see research well made, thank you for honoring both my portuguese history and the japanese history 😁

[@nicksteele9436]

When I saw you picking the noodles up, I thought you'd like them! The contact between Europe and Japan is probably one of the more benign ones, and is very interesting to me. Just the video to watch after a tricky night shift!

[@UrbanPanic]

THE ALGORYTHM has been giving me a lot of Max Miller Videos. This is the one that made me subscribe.

[@MKitchen75]

Great video, as a chef and enthusiastic of history, especially japan history, fantastic video

[@marcoaraujo4771]

Hello Max warm thanks from Lisbon!

[@ashmomofboys]

This channel is always so interesting. Love all this history.

[@TastingHistory]

Thank you 😊

[@bestnarryever]

As someone who’s Brazilian, this video is very cool! And honestly Max, you could do an entire series only on egg in Portuguese desserts because girl let me tell ya 😂 You should definitely look “Quindim” up! It’s a Brazilian dessert that was created by mixing Portuguese and African techniques and flavors (allegedly)

[@Scott-qq9jd]

I never did understand why they use "even eats egg" as a way of saying someone will eat anything in Brasil. They certainly use eggs a lot, so why would they be the "disgusting" food?

[@tigercat070]

I always love to try and guess which Pokémon plush you will have in each of your videos!

[@penguinsrbirds2]

The description of guns at 8:23 was wild.

[@loretta_3843]

My dad had an uncle who originally was a missionary in China for about 10 years then moving to Japan where he was for about another 50 years. I met him when I visited Italy and he was visiting from Japan and I remember him talking about how different it was but he'd been living in Asia way longer than he'd lived in Italy - I hadn't thought of him in quite some time and you reminded me of him☺️ (I'm in Australia my parents are originally from Italy)

[@JWe472]

Big yes to a Tempura video!!

[@caseyfulton8924]

The structure and quality of the script written for this episode really stuck out for me. Looking back now I think it's been a frog in boiling water sort of thing but it only just now occurred to me how cohesive the writing has become for each episode, and on a weekly basis at at that! If you are ad libbing the history section off of a list of bullet points I would be even more astonished. Hats off

[@Shizu_Kare]

I've been watching so many videos of yours lately I assume they're all older ones but the newest uploads always get mixed in without me even having to go to my subscriptions tab. I'm so impressed by how consistently great all your videos are as well as the upload frequency. Seeing all these recipes come to life, history and all, is really inspiring, and while I'm a college student living in a dorm with no real kitchen tools this channel is another reason I'm excited to start cooking for myself soon.

[@AJScraps]

Japanese history and cuisine is extra cool! 🍜