Melon Panna is a character in the popular Japanese animation Ampanman with an anpan for a head, although she has nothing to do with this post. We went for lunch at our local bakery today, had some cool little bread snacks and the Japanese favorite ‘melon pan’ or as we say in Japan meronpan (メロンパン). The name might imply that it is melon flavored but in fact the melon refers to the outside texture and look of the bread, looking somewhat like a melon. While pan refers to the French or Portuguese loanword for Bread depending on who you talk to. The use of French, Portuguese and German words is actually quite common in the Japanese language and most Japanese are completely unaware of the source of the words.
Back to the bread. Almost every bakery, supermarket, or bread, snack related company has their own version of melon pan. Some notable flavors are melon, maple, black tea, choc chip and coffee. The bread itself usually varies in price from 90yen ~ 200yen or so depending on where you get it and can come in a number of sizes.
The one I bought today was a very traditional melon pan, with a sugary sweet crisp coating over a slightly sweet soft bread.
So next time you’re in Japan try some me’ron’pan and see what you think.
Oh, and try not to dribble on your keyboard.