Anastasia Shcherbak

2. Traditional Asian desserts are fundamentally different from European ones. Asian sweets have
always been considered one of the most beneficial for health and shape. If we talk about desserts in
Japan, then one of the most popular in our time is a cake based on mochi rice dough.
For a very long time, mochi sweets were the food of aristocrats - emperors and their entourage. This
is because real mochi can only be made from mochigome rice, and there was very little of it in
Japan in the 8th century. Mochi rice dessert became available to all segments of the population only
by the 14th century, but even then, it was more of a festive meal that they could not afford to eat
every day.
The Japanese still have a New Year's tradition associated with mochi: they spread rice cake cakes in
a pyramid, thus decorating the house for the upcoming holiday, and on the first day of the New
Year, they cut and eat them with zoni soup.
The classic way of turning rice into dessert dough is dangerous. It involves two people: the first one
pounds the rice with a large wooden mallet that resembles a sledgehammer, and the second one
turns and moistens the dough. In this work, coherence and coordination are very important,
otherwise injury cannot be avoided.
Nowadays, a whole group of sweets is prepared from the traditional mochi dough with with the
same name "Moti". Among them, you can find soft steamed buns with a variety of sweet fillings,
mochi ice cream, glazed mochi, fried mochi, etc.
Long gone are the days when mochi dessert was a festive and ceremonial meal. Nowadays mochi
for every taste can be found in any Japanese supermarket, cafe or shop. However, the attitude of the
Japanese towards this type of sweets has not changed at all - both adults and children eat it with
pleasure.
3. Beautiful New Zealand is one of the most beautiful and clean countries in the world, home to a
unique Maori people. These aborigines are the oldest inhabitants of their prosperous land and have
many interesting traditions, one of which is the original greeting.
In Maori, it is customary to greet each other by touching the nose. Such a greeting is a symbolic act
of appeal to the so-called breath of life, ascending directly to the ancient New Zealand gods. In
addition, the aborigines greet each other by sticking out their tongues and protruding eyes, clapping
their hands on their thighs, bending their knees and stomping their feet.
Officially, this ceremony is called "pofiri" - a person who has undergone this rite, receives the status
of "tangata vein". The collision of the nose and pressing the forehead symbolizes the breath, divided
into two, and has a mystical basis - in close contact, the Maori evaluate with their "third eye" the
third eye of the person they greet. In this way, they distinguish between good people and people
with unfriendly intentions.
Maori greetings have been formed over many hundreds of years. The ancient Maori used it to
evaluate strangers. For a modern welcoming ceremony, a leader is chosen who will "rub his nose"
with the Maori leader. After that, Maori women who sing beautiful traditional songs greet guests,
and then everyone relaxes, socializes and eats local delicacies.
The Maori dance is a ritual dance that used to be used to intimidate the enemy before a fight, but
now they perform it before matches and tourists.
Maori greet guests with all due honors, introduce them to the local New Zealand culture and give a
warm spiritual reception - this is the essence of true pofira.