Takoyaki was first created in 1935 by a street vendor named Tomekichi Endo who was inspired by a dish from Hyogo Prefecture in Akashi City called akashiyaki. Endo’s version of this street food quickly gained popularity in Ōsaka and spread to the rest of the Kansai region. This Glico Pretz Takoyaki is a Hyogo limited edition and featured the standard biscuit stick covered in seasoning flavoured like takoyaki sauce, red pickled ginger and dried bonito shavings.
The seasoning is quite sweet and recalled takoyaki sauce without any hint of ginger, almost becoming too sweet with the slightly sweet biscuit stick. Beyond the sweetness, there’s no seafood flavour from the bonito, which would’ve countered some of the sweetness, resulting in a seasoning that tastes like powdered takoyaki sauce. The Giant Takoyaki Pretz for Kansai generally uses the same seasoning but balances the flavours better.
Glico Pretz Takoyaki is limited to Hyogo Prefecture and the box featured the prefecture’s local mascot, Chitchai Ossan. Chitchai Ossan (‘Small Middle-aged Man’) is 45 years of age and said to embrace the stereotypical attributes of old Japanese men: the silly grin, the missing teeth, balding ring of hair, the track packs and a singlet top.
The box of Glico Pretz Takoyaki contained 2 packs each with ~20 biscuit pieces. It was produced in Japan, and purchased in Ōsaka, Japan in 2014.