I bought Ayamurasaki because it was so murasaki -- purple. A shockingly purple dessert in Japan nearly always involves some form of satsumaimo, Japanese yam, and this candy is indeed a mixture of yam and white chocolate. I never really considered potato-type vegetables as good dessert eatin' before, but as with my torrid relationship with sweet beans, much has changed since I got here. Although my favorite way to eat satsumaimo is steamed plain, preferably by a craggy old man operating a pushcart outside a tourist attraction somewhere, I also find them irresistible in little pies and pastries. I think what I like best is also what I like about azuki beans: the texture, which is smooth yet substantial, and somehow meaty.

Ayamurasaki doesn't satisfy this craving, but the satsumaimo flavor is unmistakable. It's creamy and slightly yammy and very sweet, so sweet it is impossible for me to eat more than one at a time. But the box is pretty. And it's purple. It would probably make a nice gift for that person in your life who loves purple -- you know who I mean. She is most likely either under the age of 6 or over the age of 50. If the latter, she's always sporting a new purple accessory or zipping around town in her purple car with the personalized license plate that says "LDYPRPL."* She'd probably appreciate the elegance of the packaging, since purple processed foods are almost always directed toward her younger compatriot. Even the word, murasaki, sounds more refined than "purple," which somehow manages to sound similar to both "burp" and "pimple." Maybe she'll adopt murasaki as her own.

But I guess it's impossible to fit "LDYMURASKI" on a license plate and "LDYMRSK" just looks like "Lady Mrs. K," so that might not work after all.

*I really knew a woman who had this license plate. She used to come in once a week to the coffee bar where I worked. I never saw her dressed in anything but a purple sweatsuit.