What is the most extravagant food you've ever had?

[Torneyboy]

ok i f*** up/quote]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[samak]

your account would not exceed 300 posts, if there was no on the board!

hope you enjoy yourself!

[limbo]

Let alone if there wasn't a Board Bar or uhhhhhhh polls.....

 

Limbo

[Guest]

Yeah, Brink15, the Japanese have a stubbornly clung to repertoire of foodstuffs that they are convinced that only Japanese can eat. This is part of the ludicrous and dangerous "nihonjinron" manifesto, advocated by many right wing academics and politicians in Japan, that the Japanese race is "special and unique" physiologically and culturally (famous example: a ban was placed on imported skis in the 1970s because Japanese snow was pronounced to be different from snow in any other country).

 

I think your comments are a bit harsh Fiery. Right wing radicals exist everywhere in the world and yes Japan has its share, but you're talking less than 0.001 percent of the population, if that. Hardly the basis for a generalization.

 

Yes there was the ban on foreign skiis because Japanese snow is unique and on foreign beef imports because Japanese intestines are different but I put this down to protective trade policies rather than any Japanese perceptions of "uniqueness."

 

Whenever I hear the "I am 100 percent pure Japanese" spiel I take delight in reminding the perfect ones of their Mongolian/ Chinese/ Korean background.

 

It's even inscribed in their everyday language. If a Japanese wants to know how you feel about, say, raw fish, (s)he'll not say (in Japanese, or even in English) "Do you like sushi?" but "Can you eat sushi?" because they're convinced that foreigners really can't.

 

I think you're reading too much into this.

 

1. It could be a language thing, i.e. Japanese always say "can you speak English" rather than "do you speak English."

 

2. How many foreigners not living in Japan ate sushi 20 years ago? So for many folks, they are genuinely surprised.

 

But in my experience they're nearly always wrong when they proudly assert that non-Japanese "can't eat" stuff they think is reserved solely for Japanese stomachs: natto (fermented bean curd), taco (octopus), ikura (fish eggs) , unagi (eel), basashi (raw horse flesh) are all delicious and eaten often by non-japanese, but tell a Japanese that you have natto for breakfast and they'll give you a shocked and slightly disappointed look then probably mutter "Hen na gaijin..." ("Wierdo foreigner...") because you've just shattered their illusion that Japanese are a race apart.

 

My experiences differ. They don't feel you *can't* eat the above "delicacies" they just feel you'd rather not. I think when they say "what a weird foreigner" its more from shock that you can eat all those "delicacies," that many Japanese even balk at, rather than a mentality that "only we Japanese can eat these things."

 

(The same with language: Japs blame their incompetence regarding speaking English on the fact that their brains are singularly attuned to the Japanese language, which only Japanese can speak. It really pisses them off when they meet a foreigner who speaks fluent Japanese )

 

Again more surprised than pissed off, IMHO. Though nowadays with so many foreigners here, gaijin speaking the local lingo hardly raises an eyebrow.

 

Getting back on topic. Of all those delicacies you mentioned the only one I won't touch is Kanimiso (crab's brains!).

 

I've never tried raw sea cucumber after many gals complained that mine was salty:neener:

[Guest]

Amazing insight on Japanese mentality. I have always heard how extreme the Japanese racism is but never first hand.

I'll remember when I ever get to Japan to eat the most extreme stuff in hopes to put some local off of their superiority complex.

 

Brink, we all have our experiences, mine differ from Fiery's.

 

In my 13 years here the worst I've suffered is the odd taxi driver who pretended not to see me trying to flag him down.

 

For every one Japanese you find with a superiority complex, expect to find about 49 who feel inferior toward Westerners.

 

[Fiery Jack]

Point(s) taken on board, Roppongi. I think we're both right . You live in cosmopolitan Tokyo where they're used to gaijin and, possibly, you mix with a fairly young crowd who veer towards a westernised diet and way of thinking (not a criticism or loaded comment: I'm jealous...)? I lived in a hicksville city for years where there were very few foreigners, and my job entailed me mixing with older people (academics and politicians). "Gaijin speaking the local lingo" where I resided were and still are considered odd. (It must be admitted that the city I lived in was notorious for "old-fashioned, hard-headed" thinking too.) Hence my experiences and yours taken together probably give a better picture than mine taken alone.

 

I do think, though, that your "0.001 percent"= right wing figure is an underestimate. Whatever they might say in public ("tatemae") I know from bitter experience that a lot of Japanese maintain deep down ("honne") that they are a unique and superior race. They're fed the idea from birth by their parents, the media and the education system. I think it's a huge sign of strength that a lot of Japan's young people now have the guts and savvy to question that idea.

 

I still love Japan and the Japanese... (And crabs' brains )

 

j ::

[Guest]

Cheers mate, you didn't live in dreaded Yamaguchi ken?

PM me if you wish.

[Coss]

Hello everybody, food forum, discussions about racism, Japanese or other, elsewhere please.

 

Back to topic now guys.

[New Petchburi Pete]

Hi Brink,

I haven't read all the replies. You know we used to experience some of the best seafood in the States on Cape Cod. I'm talking Wellfleet oysters, Cotuit (or Brewster) liitle necks, mussels from off Chatham, the lobsters, crabs ... not to mention the variety of fresh fish available. Now, I'm not trying to brag, but ... the most extravagent dish I ever tasted was one I created myself. Twice I made giant pots of what I would describe more accurately as a 'seafood stew' ... I went by a couple of recipes so I'd add enough of the 'right' wine, etc., etc. ... but mostly it was made by instict ... it took many hours, actually over-night step involved, and cost a lot for all the ingredients, but man was it worth it. I served it to many Cape locals including a guy in Chatham who owned a seafood restaurant. He offered me as a job on the spot. I could never do it on a routine basis ... only for a very special ocassion, or if I'm 'in the mood.'

... white clam sauce and clam chowder are pretty easy to make & it's great to be able to customize the taste ...control garlic and cheese content & total calories, fat levels, etc.

 

[New Petchburi Pete]

Like I said, I haven't read all the posts. As far as extravagent meals go, some of the Thanksgiving feasts I've attended in the States have truely been memorable ... way too many dishes (beyond the traditional New England Thanksgiving fare) to even begin to mention. I'm sure many of you have experienced such extravagent holiday feasts for all sorts of ocassions.

Next on the list of extravagent meals: I attended two traditional, Chinese weddings in Chinatown (Boston) ... there must have been twenty courses! ... and most of these dishes you would never see on a Chinese-American menu & it did start with shark's fin soup ... years before endangerment to the species.