(Image taken from Wikipedia)
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On the 6th of this month, the Taiwan Province Festival was held in Tokyo Tower for three consecutive days. Many Taiwan Province delicacies were set up during the event, including Dijun Pepper and Sesame Cake, a famous pepper and sesame cake shop in Taichung. Although the price is as high as 700 yen, which is about RMB 200 yuan, there is still a long queue, which is expected to spread in Japan in the future.
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Pepper cake is a famous food in Taiwan Province Province. It began to flourish in the 1980s, and now it can be seen in the north and south of Taiwan Province. But you may not see this kind of delicious food filled with pork, but it is related to the Islamic Middle East. In fact, pepper-sesame cakes have nothing to do with pork, but it is said that the practice of pepper-sesame cakes-sticking stuffed spaghetti on the inner wall of the stove and baking it-originated in the Middle East, where most people believe in Islam and are called "Naan".
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Since the Tang Dynasty, Fujian coastal area has been an important shipping destination for foreign businessmen. Many foreigners have settled in Fujian and Guangdong, including Middle Easterners who are far away from China, such as Arabs. Many surnames in Taiwan Province Province come from Arabia, such as Pu, Ma and Ding.
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Due to the arrival of many Middle Easterners, the common practice of baking pasta in the Middle East was also introduced to Fujian, so some people speculated that pepper and sesame cakes originated in the Middle East. It is rare to bake Chili cakes against the inner wall of the stove in Taiwan Province Province. In recent years, the popularity of Indian cuisine has gradually opened up, and scones common in Indian cuisine are similar to pepper cakes. Pancakes are highly developed in India, with a wide variety from north to south; Indian scones are said to have been introduced from Afghanistan and related to the food culture in the Middle East and Central Asia.
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Pepper and sesame cake was introduced into Taiwan Province Province from Fuzhou, formerly known as Fuzhou cake. However, due to the similar pronunciation of Fuzhou and Zanthoxylum bungeanum in Minnan dialect, pepper sesame cake has gradually become a common name. It is worth mentioning that in Fuzhou, the locals are not called Fuzhou cake or pepper sesame cake, but scallion cake. After all, the main fillings of pepper and sesame cakes are scallions and meat.
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In addition to pepper and sesame cakes, Fuzhou people also brought famous foods to Taiwan Province Province, such as Fuzhou fish balls, Fuzhou dry mixed noodles, Buddha jumping over the wall, Dingbian stalls and so on. Fuzhou cuisine is a branch of Fujian cuisine, which has a certain influence on the diet of Taiwan Province Province, which is dominated by Fujian people.
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