Facts About Castella
Castella is a kind of Wagashi originally developed in Japan based on the "Nanban confectionery" transmitted from Portugal. There is no confectionery called “Castella” in Portugal, and the prototype confectionery described later also differs in appearance and manufacturing method from Kasutera. Nagasaki is the home of Kasutera in Japan, and the so-called "Nagasaki Kasutera" is based on Fukusaya in Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, and does not mean a famous confection in Nagasaki Prefecture, but is a generic term for those which have the same manufacturing method. The batter is poured into large square or rectangular molds, baked in an oven and cut into long rectangular shapes. Since it uses Mizuame, it has a moist texture.
Now a specialty of Nagasaki, the cake was brought to Japan by Portuguese merchants in the 16th century. The name is derived from Portuguese Pão de Castela, meaning "bread from Castile". Castella cake is usually sold in long boxes, with the cake inside being approximately 27 cm long. It is somewhat similar to Madeira cake, also associated with Portugal, but its closest relative is pão-de-ló, also a Portuguese cake.
There are similar types of sponge cakes named after the same fashion, in French: Pain d'Espagne, in Italian: Pan di Spagna, in Portuguese: Pão d’Espanha, in Romanian: Pandișpan, in Bulgarian: пандишпан, in Greek: Παντεσπάνι, in Turkish: Pandispanya. (Castile was a former kingdom of Spain, comprising its north-central provinces, thus Pain d'Espagne and other variants are quasi-synonymous to "bread from Castile"). A similar cake, called taisan (meaning sharpening stone in Kapampangan), is a traditional dessert in Pampanga province in the Philippines.
