Food Culture Quiz in Christine Science Monitor

How many scores did you get?

Today, I took a food culture quiz in Christine Science Monitor. I'll tell you my score.

 

 

 

 

My score was 76 and it was higher than the average users' score. But, I feel that the quiz was difficult for me and it can't be said that I am not a real foodie yet. After I took this quiz, I decide to deepen my knowledge related food more.

 

 

 

I'll tell you the problem that I made a mistake.

 

 

To begin with, I mistook the question " What is foie gras?" I didn't know foie gras. Foie gras is a French dish and it is a paste of foie gras. Also, it is used duck liver. From the beginning, I thought the dish is French because the spell is not English. After I searched the word, I knew it and Japanese call it フォアグラ. The food is very expensive and I have eaten it only once.

 

 

Next, I mistook the question about the salad fork. First, I thought salad fork is a serving fork. But, my thought was wrong. Salad fork is smaller than the other fork and it is located in the furthest from the dish. we, Japanese usually use chopstick and we don't use some types of fork even if we eat dishes with using fork. It comes from the differences of each cultures.

 

Finally, I want to introduce the quiz I was most surprided. The quiz is about how to clean a cast iron skillet. I thought that the answer is the way soak in water and soap it. But, it was wrong. The answer is " Rinse with hot water and use a little salt." I was surprised because I have been soaking in water and soaping it. According to the explanation, soaping accelerate to cover with rust. I will clean a cast iron skillet in this way.

 

 

I thought that the merit of this quiz is related to food of all types. For eaxample, there are how to clean a cast iron skillet, some French dishes, spice, the type of food and so on. I will get new information about food if you take this quiz.

 

Who will be a foodie? I hope someone will get high score.



Today's Breakfast

Green Curry and Rice

Today, I ate green curry and rice in breakfast. The name of the can is "Chicken and Thai Curry of Inaba"
The can of curry is very famous. Besides, it's cheap and maybe I bought 90 yen.

I ate the curry with fish sause, "num pla". Num pla is a popular seasoning in Southeast Asia. It has strong  and unique smell. Maybe, some favores it, but others don't.  I felt that Adding num pla made the taste  of green curry mild.

Green curry was tastey for me. But, it was hot. Today, I ate it with Japanese Rice (Japonica). But, I want to eat with Indica if I have a chance to buy it. People eat green curry with Indica in authentic flavors.

The green curry, "Chicken and Thai Curry of Inaba" is sold in many supermarkets and please try to eat it.

Book Review Part 7

The Problem of Importing Rice

Rice Millers Association (RMA) react against the situation Japanese government close their market. Japanese government has a duty they have to protect Japanese rice and they resist the pressure of RMA. But, most remarkable thing is that Japanese consumers oppose the import of rice. Most of the opponent are women and elderly people, while young people insist that Japan should import rice with restrictions. Japanese consumers maintain that they would continue buying Japanese rice because the quality is better than imported rice and America would not very profit if Japan imported rice from America. They also assure that the cheap and imported rice would be used in restaurant.

However, various grocery are imported from America. For example, Japan imported fish and shellfish 35.9%, grain 14.6%, meet 14.8%, fruits and vegetables 12.7% in 1988. America exported 40 % of whole farm products and the total export of all items was supplied toward Japan. Like this, Japan depends on importing  of the majority of food, so consumers do not oppose it. It is true that Japan is the major export counterpart for America. 

Needless to say, the rice importation issue is concerned with political aspects. Because their votes depend on the huge impact rural farmers have. Thus, politicians　respond to their requests and they get many votes from them and they win the election. The reason why farmers have big influence with elections is that their vote collect in each unions, but urban vote is independent on each. 

Book Review Part 6

Consumers' View toward Rice and its Agriculture

The price of Japanese rice is several times as American one. Obviously, Japanese government subsidize rice farming and the subsidy obstructs the demand and supply of the market economy. However, expensive and brand rices like Koshihikari and Sasanishik are not controlled by the government and the consumers buy them independently. The consumption of rice is apt to be influenced by  the number of family members, ages, their lifestyles and so forth.

World War 2, the consumption of rice per person is 150 kilo in a year, but it became 72 kilo in 1987. Japanese families of three or four spend 1200 yen for rice in a month and the sum of rice is far less than other money for food. Especially, middle or high classes family tend to do. According to the survey in 1989, the expenditure of rice was about 2 percent in total, while it was 27 percent in Taisho Period. 

Also, the amount of eating rice in Japan has been decreasing. So, the cost of rice is not expensive. Therefore, they can buy expensive one like Koshihikari.

Today's Lunch

Oden!!

I bought oden for lunch in the next LAWSON to Aoyama Gakuin University . Oden is popular food in winter in Japan and there are a lot of ingredients. I chose dashimaki egg, radish and atuage today. The three ingreients are my favorite oden. The taste was soaked in dashi soup. I usually buy oden at a flat price of 70 yen. You can buy oden cheaper than usual because the regular prices of some oden are more than 100 yen. If you have a chance, I recommend you buy them at the term. I plan to buy oden at a flat price of 70 yen in other convenience stores: Seven Eleven, Family Mart and so on.

Book Review Part 5

Three Issues Related to Rice in Contemporary Japan

About 80 percent of total population in Japan did farming at the beginning of Meiji Peiod, however, only 3.5 percent did in 1985. Moreover, the number of agriculture in full-time are few and 85 percent of rice farming is part-time job. Also, elderly people do in rural area.  They have a huge impact of the voting. Especially, people of rice farming in  part-time job have more influences than full-time.

In 1985, the average income of farmers is 1 million higher than the income of the other jobs, but they can't afford to live elegantly. The reason is that many facilities and expenditures spend much cost and only 60 percent of them can repay their fault regularly. However, people in urban areas think farmers  don't satisfy with their treatment although they are protected by Japanese government and they have a complaint for it.

Today, many youngers don't wish they derive agriculture from their parents. In Hukagawa of Hokkaido, 136 farmer's houses quited farming in three years because they have huge debts of investing the farming machinery and purchasing lands. According to the international statics, one third of farmers are more than 60 years old people and 40 percent of them have successors.

In brief, Japan has three problems mainly. The first issue is that the population of agriculture is decreasing and people of part-time jobs of farming have more impact than full-time. The second issue is the collision between farmers and urbanites. The third issue is a serious shortage of successors.

Book Review Part 4

Japanese Government Attitudes in Rice Farming

Recently, it is essential to review the intervention of Japanese government in agriculture, especially rice. From 1603 to 1868, barriers and central government has imposed some tax and rice could not be trade freely. The similar system has been continuing now. Also, Japanese government have take over the role of Shogunate and it controls rice firmly.

 

The history of Japanese government controls food

1920    the policy of controling rice

1939    the law of distribution of rice

1942    the law of distribution of all food

 

After the World War 2, the control system was disappeared and by contraries Japanese government give farmers subsidy and became to protect them. After that, the price of rice became high and the wage of farmers changed as same as the salary of official workers in cities. But, the protection of farmers produced the irony results. The consumption of rice is decreasing since Western culture come to Japan and Japanese food style changed. Recently, Japan overproduce rice and Japanese government have to buy the huge rice of extra. Therefore, Japanese government executed the reduction of rice and it makes farmers reduce 30 percent of farming land for using rice farming. Besides, it urges that the increase of rice consumption. For example, rice became to use as school lunch and year-end gifts.


After I finished reading the part, I supposed that the scale of Japanese rice market will be only smaller in the future because of the shift for Western food and the decrease of Japanese population. Now, I have no idea with the solution of the problem. I also think that the policy of use rice as school lunch and gifts have not so much effect. Because the economic scale is not limitless. It's a difficult issue.
 

Book Review Part 3

<Red Rice>

It is said that red rice was introduced from the Asian Continent to Japan in some scholars' opinions. Red rice has special ceremony's values and now it is treated like this. Japanese tradition have a custom that people eat red rice in auspicious occasions. The custom came from the beginning of eating red rice. 

 

<Favorite Types of Japanese Rice>

After the amount of consuming rice is decreasing rapidly, Almost of Japanese became to prefer types of rice that is produced in frigid climates like Niigata and Tohoku region. There are two popular brand of rice; Koshihikari in Niigata and Sasanishiki in Miyagi and Yamagata. Next, they buy Akitakomachi  in Akita. The taste of two types were developed in the Meiji Period. Today, rice Japanese identify as comes from Tohoku region where rice farming was spread finally in Japan. Japanese rice means white rice today and it has been polished for a long time. However, Scholars insist that Japanese began eating white rice while Genroku and Kyoho Periods which is between the end of seventeen century and the beginning of eighteen century. Therefore, the custom of eating white rice is a new phenomenon. Before this period, Japanese usually eat unpolished rice (genmai). But, orientation toward health became high and some of them started to eat genmai. Likewise, similar phenomenon was happened in America and some prefer to eat the dark bread. 

After reading the fact that Japanese prefer the rice in frigid climates like Niigata and Tohoku region, I noticed it firstly. Certainly, I have an image that people make more tasty rice in frigid climate. In particular, Koshihikari in Niigata is very famous brand of Japanese rice and of course the price is high. Niigata is a heavy snowfall area. Also, there is heavy snowfalls in Tohoku region. Not only I but also other Japanese feel them like me. 

I knew that the general public in Japan eat unpolished rice (genmai) a long time ago. When I was a high school student and I studied Japanese history, I learned that common people eat genmai and nobles eat white rice. Thus, I heard that the life span of common people is longer than nobles. 

Book Review Part 2

<Rice in Today>

Today, rice, wheat and corn are most important grains in the world and these are indispensable foods for everyone. About one third  of the world's population (more than 1.1 billion people) eat rice as staple food. Especially, it can be said that rice is essential for Asian and they eat it every day. 90 percent of yield of rice comes from Monsoon Asia and 64 percent of them are produced in East and Southeast Asia.


In Asia, there are mainly two types rice. First type of rice is Indica rice. The features of this are slender and long. Also, when it is cooked, it becomes separated. The other type of rice is Japonica rice. This has distinctions of short and rounded. When it is cooked, it became sticky.
Like this,  Indica rice is non-sticky grain and it is said that the taste is worse than Japonica rice, but many Asian countries prefer Indica. Particularly, Thai says the rice smells like jasmine. The reason why Japanese prefer more Japonica and other Asian countries prefer Indica comes from their cuisine. For example, other Asian countries use rice with other ingredients to boil or fry with oil. Then, if they use Japonica, it became more sticky with oil and its taste became bad. However, Japanese do not use rice with oil and they choose Japonica because Japonica is  suitable of making Sushi.


Rice produces the useful things for daily life except the role of food. For instance, Japanese reuse chaff as fertilizer and use rice as ash when they make animal bristle into brush in order to remove oil from animals in the past. Even more, Rice's husk is used as straw hats, sandals, tatami, rainwears and so on. These tools were important for them at that time. That is to say, rice is necessary for Japanese in the past and even now.



 I knew that Japonica is unique in Asia and other Asians prefer Indica before reading this section. But, I didn't know the reason comes from how to cook rice. I'm so interested in why Thai says Indica smells like jasmine because I don't think so. I didn't feel that Indica has a unique smell althogh  I have eaten Indica several times. I want to know it. Also, I was impressed that in the past Japanese use rice as food and tools exhaustively. Therefore, Rice has a lot of use and they utilize it to the maximum.

A Video of Rice Farming Problem

I'll want to introduce a video related to rice farming problem in Japan.
I found this video on youtube.
The title is "Elderly Rice Farmers in Japan."

 Japan has a problem which most workers of rice farming are aged people. This video shows the  reasons are low rice prices, a population outflow from the country to the city and so on. Also, some youngers become rice farmers, but they say it is hard to make a living for farming. Like this, the video suggest unease about the future of rice farmers' shortage of successors and we have to consider the solution.