[lit-ideas] Re: Guess where the USA ranks in terms of health care
- From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:54:46 +0900
On Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 5:27 AM, Ursula Stange <Ursula@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> John: But surely that might be due to diet.
FYI, I offer the following from the chapter on Japan that Ruth and I wrote
for Ray Scupin, ed., Peoples and Cultures of Asia.
If you are invited to visit Japan, your hosts will almost certainly take
you out for an "authentically Japanese" meal. Tsuji Shizuo, whose Ecole
Technique Hôtelier Tsuji (the Tsuji Professional Culinary Institute) is
Japan's most famous cooking school, describes such a meal as "consisting of
many small courses—each a work of art on which much time and thought are
spent, the receptacles, too, constituting an important part of the
experience."[i] <#_edn1>
Tsuji traces the origins of this style of cooking to the ancient imperial
court in Kyoto. There, he writes, "The impoverished but cultivated court
nobles learned to delight in the offerings of each changing season as it
came, making the most of nature's provender when each article of food—fish,
fowl or vegetable was at its prime." The food is served raw or very lightly
cooked and only delicately seasoned with *dashi *(a fish stock made of dried
bonito) and Japanese soy sauce. The focus of the experience is on the
ingredient's original tastes, colors and textures.
Kimono-clad servers move with deliberate and studied grace. The guest of
honor sits with his or her back to the back of the room, in front of an
alcove displaying a scroll painting and a flower arrangement that, like the
servers' kimono, change depending on the season. The lowest ranked
participant sits closest to the door. Yes, you may think to
yourself,"Thisis the real Japan.
" Your hosts will agree.
You may notice, however, that if this is the real Japan, the real Japan is
now only a small part of everyday Japanese lives. Imagine, for example, that
our prowl around Yokohama has brought us to Yokohama Station. We are hungry
and go looking for something to eat in the restaurant section of the
building adjacent to the station.
We can, if we are so inclined, find a restaurant that serves the kinds of
meals that Tsuji Shizuo describes. In the same section, however, there are
two Italian restaurants (one of which appeals to health-conscious diners by
labeling its offerings "Natural Italian"), two Chinese restaurants (one
offering market stall dishes from Taiwan), a Russian tearoom, a Thai
restaurant, and a beer hall whose menu features German sausages. One
restaurant specializes in *omuraisu* (omelet rice), a Japanese culinary
invention that consists of rice seasoned with ketchup, onions and peppers,
wrapped in an omelet, and topped with curry, stew, or simply more ketchup.
All of these restaurants are filled with Japanese customers visibly enjoying
their food.
Up two escalators and a short walk away is a busy street filled with young
people, where the offerings include KFC, McDonald's, Starbucks, Häagen-dazs,
Shakey's Pizza, Mr. Donut, and a British pub. All are doing a thriving
business—as are places offering Japanese style dishes, *soba* (buckwheat)
and *udon* (wheat) noodles, *unagi* (eel), *sushi *(raw fish or other
seafood on rice flavored with sweetened vinegar, with *wasabi* (Japanese
horseradish), soy sauce, and (to freshen the palate) slices of pickled
ginger. One mustn't forget the *tonkatsu*, deep fried pork cutlet served
with rice, a bowl of *miso* (fermented soybean paste) soup, salty Japanese
pickles and a generous heap of chopped cabbage, or the *okonomiyaki,
*do-it-yourself
savory pancakes stuffed with all sorts of things and topped with dried
bonito flakes, seaweed, and a dark brown savory sauce. Plus, of course,
there are *tempura* (batter-fried seafood or vegetables) and
*sukiyaki*(thin slices of beef sautéed in a heavy iron pan with
*tofu*, and vegetables).
Within a half-mile radius, one can also find, Indian, Mexican, and
Vietnamese restaurants. At least in public places, that "authentically
Japanese" meal with which we began is only one—and by no means the most
popular—of the meals that Japanese now consume.
But what, we might ask, do Japanese cook and eat at home?
Authoritative-sounding descriptions tell us that Japanese meals are
traditionally built around a bowl of plain boiled rice, with everything
else—fish, meat or vegetable, fried, stewed, grilled or raw—conceived as a
side dish and complement to the main dish, the rice itself.
According, however, to food critic M.F.K. Fisher, who wrote the introduction
to Tsuji's *Japanese Cooking,* "At least half the population of more than a
hundred million people like, eat, and thrive on bowl-meals from China (*
ramen* in soup), and India (curry-rice), and Italy (spaghetti with tomato
sauce)."[ii] <#_edn2> Ready-to-eat, heat-and-serve, or semi-prepared
versions of all three dishes frequently appear in the meals that Japanese
members prepare for themselves and their children. According to market
researcher Iwamura Nobuko, growing numbers of Japanese women have no
interest in cooking and see little value in producing home-cooked meals for
their families.[iii] <#_edn3>
------------------------------
[i] <#_ednref1> Tsuji Shizuo, *Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art. *Tokyo:
Kodansha, 1980, p. 19.
[ii] <#_ednref2> Tsuji, *op. cit., *p. 16.
[iii] <#_ednref3> Iwamura Nobuko, *Kawaru Kazoku, Kawaru
Shokutaku*(Changing Families, Changing Meals), Tokyo: Keisoshobo,
2003.
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
http://www.wordworks.jp/
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