Anthony Bourdain. If you happen to be a food aficionado, then you most likely know who this man is, and then there are some of you who have no idea who this ‘Anthony Bourdain’ is. According to Wikipedia, “Anthony Bourdain is an American chef and author”; Bourdain is known for hosting some of the Travel Channel’s culinary programs such as: The Layover and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. On his show, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Bourdain travels to different countries and experiences their culture throughout their food. On an episode on his show, he travels to Japan and immerses himself by experiencing their food culture. On this particular episode, Anthony argues that while Japanese food is extremely delicious,it takes incredibly long …show more content…
to prepare , this also includes alcoholic beverages. He states that people do not care how their food looks, they just care how it tastes and how quickly it is served. I, however, disagree with Mr. Bourdain. I believe that although taste is the primary factor in selecting food, the way it is presented and the quality also matter. When you think of Japan, you think Tokyo, Osaka, huge buildings, the advancing technology, and the massive population, but you don’t really stop and think about the cuisine.
Japanese people love food-and japanese food is, now, mostly known across the globe- and just like the stories of their heritage, their food also has a story. Their cuisine is influenced by customs of other countries, but over the years, they have adapted their own unique way of preparation and eating. Two of the major influences that affect japanese food is China and the Buddhist religion (“Japan: History and Food”). The influence of China brought on the knowledge to cultivate rice, a major staple in the japanese cuisine. The chinese also introduced the way to use chopsticks and the use of tofu and soy sauce. While the Chinese region introduced food, the Buddhist religion banned food. During the rise of Buddhism, the ban of eating meat became enforced, this action led to the introduction of sushi, an easily known dish (“Japan: History and Food”). As a result of this, the japanese diet became centered on meatless foods and focused more on zensai (side dishes) of vegetables, fish, noodles, and soups while the shusai (main dish) is rice. While meat has now been reintroduced, the main sources of meat are chicken and pork, beef being used in slight amounts. Japanese citizens do not just take pride in their food, they take pride in the way they live, balanced. Ying and Yang is a huge part of the japanese life; …show more content…
they believe living simply is the best form to live but their food is stated otherwise. On his show, Bourdain argued that japanese food takes to long to prepare and that people just want to eat it, not look at it. While Bourdain is right in the aspect of people just wanting to eat their food, he is wrong in the fact that we don't want to look at it. Japanese food is known to be extremely detailed. You can watch a japanese drama and find that even their lunch boxes have the most intricate of arrangements. Eating out at a genuine japanese restaurant- any Asian restaurant at that- you can find yourself waiting a good amount of time before your meal arrives. Once it does arrive, you can find yourself literally marveling at the amazing food, as if it were art. You can expect to order a simple plate of udon and receive a gourmet styled dish. The reason as to why the japanese are so detailed with their food is that the believe that food should be as good to the eyes as to how your taste buds taste it. Japanese chefs have created and practiced their culinary skills their whole lives and over the years, they have tried to perfect their skills and their cuisine, although they do not believe in actual perfection. People are naturally attracted to materials and food that look appealing.
The better something looks the more it attracts people, that is human nature. Although taste is the most important, nobody wants to go to a restaurant and order something that is, honestly, gonna look like a blob. It might taste good, but its not as appealing as a dish nicely prepared on a plate and decorated with herbs, for example. For japanese people, presentation and plating are as important as the taste. Japanese restaurants in Japan, serve food on a small plates and bowl, they are neatly arranged.Their cuisine presentation is influenced by the the changing seasons and sport all kinds of colors representing warmth and serenity. The main goal for any chef is to be remembered and if the food is good and looks good, they are more likely to make a name for themselves. While it is true that the preparation time is long, it is worthwhile to wait and enjoy a quality meal that captivates and excites you. Although the detailing work in food preparation is what takes so long, making everything fresh also influences the time one gets
served. In the United States, we are used to highly processed foods. Restaurants use already made food that has been frozen or preserved in some sort of way. Japan rarely uses these methods as they prefer to cook everything fresh. Many restaurant owners are the main chefs in the kitchen and will have the grueling task of going to the fish market and buy fish caught that day or any other ingredient they may need. They will kill a chicken that they will use to prepare a food that day. Japanese food is considered so fresh that sometimes it is questionable to westerners. One extremely fresh meal that is seen in Japan is live squid. Yes, thats right, live squid. This meal involves a live squid with some soy sauce or spicy sauce on the side. The trick is to wrap the squid around the chopstick, season it with a sauce and just eat it. The texture is quite chewy and it might be a bit difficult to chew, but it is an interesting experience. While many westerners will not be eating food that fresh, it is important to maintain a certain factor of organic foods. Highly processed foods are bad for the body. These foods can lead to high cholesterol, high blood pressure and they have been linked to obesity. In a health related view, it wouldn’t matter how long a meal takes to prepare when you know that that meal will not increase your chances of diseases. Eating foods freshly prepared increases the value of a meal and makes it even more important to appreciate it. While Anthony Bourdain has a point on the amount of time it takes to prepare food, food preparation in America already takes long. It’s just as rewarding, if not more, to have a meal, that although took quite some time, that will leave a lasting impression on not just taste but the way it physically looks. Foods styled with great detail can be considered art in many chefs’ eyes but it can also be appreciated by regular people. With how materialistic the world is now, it is a surprise that one wouldn't care about food is fashioned. Like the article The Art of Japanese Cuisine: Food Presentation 101 states , visual presentation is as much a part of the dining experience as the taste of the food itself, so beauty is always an essential ingredient in any Japanese meal.
Chao-Wei Wu Jeffrey McMahon English 1A 23 July 2014 Chef Jeff Henderson_Cooked Chef JH’s personal memoir, Cooked, is a model confirmation that it is feasible for an author to give a moving message without sounding sermonizing and redundant. Cooked takes place after Henderson's rise and fall (and rise once more). The story begins with his alliance with drug merchants of becoming one of the top split cocaine merchants in San Diego by his 23rd birthday. It leads to his capture and inevitably his rising into the culinary business (Ganeshram 42).
One quality that is involved in a restaurant is the atmosphere and the positive energy it gives off. Considering the Western theme, they have the restaurant well decorated from the entrance, to the place where you sit. The walls are painted with tumbleweeds on them, with great lighting that allows you to see, and not go blind. The plates and silverware are very nice, as is the food that goes into them.
Dave Thomas an American restaurateur and a philanthropist once said, “It all comes back to the basic. Serve customers the best-tasting food at a good value in a clean, comfortable restaurant, and they'll keep coming back.” (thomas). Everyone can agree on Dave Thomas, but I have a couple more criteria to add to his idea of a great successful restaurant. If I go out to eat I might as well pick a place that, though may be expensive, has scrumptious food because why bother going to spend money on food you can make yourself? A great restaurant has to meet three of my criteria’s: the Décor and atmosphere, impeccable service and cleanliness, and most importantly the food.
Reid, who knows Japanese and has studied things Asian for many years, lived in a Japanese community, sent his children to an excellent Japanese public school and learned to put up cheerfully with his Japanese neighbors' codified concerns. ''The Japanese,'' he happily notes, ''are people who love rules.'' Written with grace, knowledge and humor, his book is a sympathetic Baedeker to the Japanese way of life. It is well worth reading for that. Not many foreigners have been able to fit in so well with their neighbors. His explanations of modern Japan and its Confucian background ar...
Japan’s religious belief and Japan’s modern, materialist society create and ideological conflict that kept on growing. Contradictions between the old and the new, modernity and tradition are part of the contemporary issues of religion in Japan. Ideological conflicts like this create repercussion leaving a schism in the psyche. Because of this, beliefs and life styles of the Japanese community grow to become more difficult giving as a result internal confusion and isolation. As Japan’s economic power grows, Japanese people are able to enjoy many goods and more modern urban areas and cities. Japan industrial era and religion’s messages creates conflict in the Japanese society. People are facing struggle while tryi...
Cuisine is a big factor in the identity of a culture and many people will list food as a factor that makes a country what it is, even using Damper for an example, many people see it is an Australian classic and part of Australia's history. Analysing these two iconic recipes, we can begin to view what kinds of communication is used and by looking at this, the history and the shaping of culture we gain a deeper understanding of the impact and importance of food in both Australia, Japan and around the world. Through this analysis it is hoped that a better understanding of these topics is acquired and an in depth reflection is produced.
The religion of the Japanese people is called Shinto. Shinto translates to Way of the Spirits. Some say that it is more than a religion, it is a way of life for the Japanese people. It is closely paralleled by the Japanese cultures and way of life (Hirai, 2007). Shinto has been a way of practicing faith and living a pure life in Japan for over 2,000 years. Shinto is in every aspect of the Japanese life. For example: ethics, politics, social structure, artistic life, sporting life, and of course spiritual life (Religion, 2017). Nowadays, the people of Japan mix some Shinto and Buddhism in their lives as far as their spiritual beings are concerned. Shinto is a very free religion. There is no God, no commandments, no founder, and no scriptures. Rather than worshiping a God, Shinto followers worship kami, or spiritual energy (Hansen 2007).
To confirm their belief, the authors collected data by means of free listing, interviews, or simply practicing naturalistic observations in several Japanese cities including Mizusawa, Morioka, and Tokyo. The authors found that Japan had long had its own fast food culture as long ago as 1899, when a Japanese food chain, Yosh...
In order to get a greater sense of the food personality attributes, three episodes from each show’s current season were analyzed to examine the personalities’ mannerisms and culinary identity. These attributes and characteristics were coded and analyzed (see Table 2). Content analysis started with cursory examination of the television episodes. I posed two questions during my initial examinations: how do these culinary personalities present themselves as experts in either the domestic or public spheres, and how do these presentations adhere or diverge from the earlier outlined gender culinary stereotypes. This meant looking at the theme of the shows, setting, the appearance and mannerisms of the culinary personalities, and how well these shows convey the tone of the network. While watching, I took note of any personal anecdotes or memories given while the food was being
I was born in one of the countries in Asia, and our staple food is rice. Rice is always at the center of the table, and the rest of the viand surrounds it. Here in the United States, my household still eat rice every day, accompanied by cooked vegetables and meat. My food choices are influenced by culture and family. Vegetables and fruits of my choice are abundant at the International Market and other Asian grocery stores. Vegetables are also available for a cheaper price at the farmers market. I myself buy these foods to ensure its freshness, prepare and cook them for my entire family. Inspired by Asian and American cuisine, our food is prepared with variety of cooking styles; such as dry like barbecues, baked and fried, with sauce
A defining trait of every country, whether it be Italy or India, is the type of cuisine that they serve. One of the best ways to gain an understanding of a country’s culture is through their food. While some people would deem other aspects of a culture as more important, it is a feature easiest to explain and relate to. A distinguishing fact is that food is both physical and mental in that its creation takes dedication and effort; food is able to create emotions given the proper setting. As cooking traditions evolved throughout the years, to fit people’s ever changing tastes, so does the culture. They are parallel to each other in that as one aspect of culture changes, so does the food and vice versa. Two of the most popular types of foods in society today are American food, and Chinese food. The typical features of how food is prepared and made, the tastes preferred, the utensils, and the beliefs about the food's properties are all reflections of the American and Chinese cultures.
Confucian beliefs have played an important role in the East Asian societies for centuries, thus Japan is not an exception. One of the main features of Confucianism is the set of five hierarchical orders, one of them being the master and his disciple interaction. It can be adapted to a specific relationship between a ramen noodle master and his apprentice. This kind of interactions has been shown in the Japanese film Tampopo and its modern American remake The Ramen Girl. In both films the student and teacher interaction can be seen as one of the main, if not the most important, narrative strands, around which all the action is centred. This essay will be dealing with this hierarchical order in the context of The Ramen Girl, where the relationship is rather Americanized and goes against the Japanese traditions. The main character is not only disrespectful of her teacher, but is overall very ignorant towards the Japanese culture. This movie will be compared to the already mentioned “noodle western” Tampopo, where the hierarchy is much more evident, despite being slightly modernized. Therefore, while using the medium of food and hierarchical order of Confucianism, both films successfully tell the viewers a lot about the way people interact in the portrayed nations.
The movie “The Hundred Foot Journey” is a great representation of different cultures interacting as well as the different food habits. The movie is based on an Indian family who moves to Italy and wants to open an Indian restaurant across street from a famous Italian restaurant in the small town. The Kadam family wants to bring the Indian cuisine to a new culture and share some of their values. They have trouble expanding their culinary delights to the public because Marquerite the sous-chef doesn’t want any competition. Throughout the movie, secrets on certain dishes are shared and tricks to improve the certain style of food is greatly appreciated by both restaurant chefs.
My interest for Japan and its culture was first sparked in 2003 at the age of 8 years old. Picking up my first pair of chopsticks to eat homemade sushi was a unique experience and led to Japanese cuisine becoming my favourite. Since then I have made sushi on a regular basis and attended a sushi cooking class to further my knowledge of more technically complex dishes and the traditions that pair with them. This part of Japanese culture, alongside the fascinating contrast of ancient customs with state of the art technological advances, is what continues to fuel my interest in the country.
It is vital to recognize the value of a certain culture in the country through a common “tool” such as food. Located in Ohio, in Oberlin College’s newspaper, a number of students complained about the cultural appropriation on Asian food. Among many students, a Junior Japanese student, Tomoyo Joshi, criticizing the college’s serving of sushi, stated: “When you’re cooking a country’s dish for other people, including ones who have never tried the original dish before, you’re also representing the meaning of the dish as well as its culture” (Dunham & Friedersdorf). The unique taste and characteristic in a country’s dish reveals a meaning of its culture. Through common accessibilities like Japanese food, for instance, many people are able to understand and learn the Japanese culture. However, many misunderstand the Japanese culture due to the modification of Japanese food in the West. Without the same tasting, Westernization of Asian food corrupt originality in the culinary world. As a matter of fact, “the traditional cuisines of Japan is based on rice with miso soup and other dishes such as soba or udon or meat based products called tonkatsu… Japan has simmered many dishes such as fish products in broth called oden or beef in sukiyaki and nikujaga” (Wikipedia). In comparison to the original Japanese food sold in Japan, Japanese