Reflecting on Ginbis Asparagus Biscuits

The Ajimi team was munching on some Ginbis Asparagus Biscuits the other day, which sent one of them into a revery about Brancusi’s late sculpture, the Endless Column. The slender columnar form of the biscuits suggest a slightly lumpy variation on the great sculptor’s beautiful object which simultaneously embodies a complete and defined object and suggests a series of modules that could extend infinitely. The metaphors and contradictions of that inspired sculpture could also be contained in the simple – and beautiful – asparagus biscuit, which flavorwise simultaneously marries sweetness and salt, oiliness and crunch, black sesame seeds and white flour. At least that’s what one of the Ajimi team thought in a flight of fancy, perhaps inspired by Brancusi’s Bird in Space. This sort of thing happens occasionally. It happened to Proust. 

The biscuit in question, that in the right hands, or mouth rather, can make the mind take leaps of imagination, was introduced to Japan in 1968 by Ginbis, the shorthand moniker for the Ginza Bakery Company. They claim that their asparagus biscuit was a radical invention, marrying the basic sweet cookie with a light salty umami-ish quality that they described with the cliched term as the “Japanese taste.” No matter, the Ajimi team has been a big fan of them since buying our first package of them in Japan. The team let out a big “sugoiii!” when we saw them on the shelves of the Daiso that recently opened up across the way from the Fujiyama steakhouse in a small mall outcropping not more than a couple kilometers away from our abode. The team has yet to dine at Fujiyama. 

As for the asparagus connection, it’s merely an abstraction. According to Ginbis propaganda, the shape of the cookie was inspired by the shape of asparagus, which also was a bit of an expensive vegetable treat in Tokyo in the 60s. The patina of that luxury was imprinted on this rather affordable sweet treat. Even the packaging was made to mimic a simple bag with a drawstring, though it was merely a plastic bag with a twist tie. These contradictions make the whole asparagus biscuit thing even more beguiling and mystifying, prone to making one’s mind wander and make new connections. And they are pretty yummy. This team member thinks Brancusi would approve.