Itoshima has welcomed another distinctive speciality shop, this time devoted entirely to scones.
Soshiji no Utage is a small shop and bakery workshop beside the road in Shima Idahara, where scones are made with a house-grown natural starter.
The starter is more than a conventional wild yeast. The shop calls it a “traditional natural starter,” cultivated using an old fermentation method similar to techniques long used in Japanese sake and miso production. Fruit, vegetables and grains are crushed and left to ferment naturally.
The complex fermentation involves not only yeast, but also koji mould, lactic acid bacteria and other microorganisms. The result is a deep savoury richness from the koji, a mellow sweetness and a full, fragrant aroma. The baker spent around ten years working with this delicate starter, which changes with the temperature and humidity, before finally creating a scone that met their standards.
The aim was not to produce the colourful, elaborately decorated scones popular today, but something closer to the simple, sustaining bread traditionally eaten in Scotland. The scones are made with Japanese wheat, including flour from Itoshima, Japanese cultured butter, sun-dried salt and beet sugar. They are baked until crisp on the outside and moist within, with a substantial texture and a rich wheat and butter aroma that develops with every bite.
The scones are slowly fermented in the shop’s compact workshop. Limited-time flavours such as fig and cream cheese or maple almond may also appear on the counter.
Updates on sold-out items, temporary closures and other changes are posted regularly through the shop’s Instagram Stories.
House-Made Wild-Yeast Scones Soshiji no Utage
・128 Shima Idahara, Itoshima, Fukuoka
・Hours: 10:00 to 14:00
・*Closes when sold out
・Closed: Tuesdays and Thursdays
・https://www.instagram.com/soshiji.no.utage/
