Following the shoe incident with Bush in Iraq, press conference organizers are thinking of instituting new rules and manners. All participants will be asked to take their shoes off and wear paper-thin slippers. The measure is expected to improve the hygiene and ambience of the press room and make everyone relax and feel more comfortable.
Initially the idea was to ask participants to tie their shoes and hang them on power lines and phone wires outside the venue to give it western-style semantics but the fear this could be interpreted as a gangs-in-town sign or a drug dealer's marking made everyone revise and adopt symbolism-neutral Japanese manners on room hygiene.
I guess the most symbolic and heard-out-loud kind of peaceful protest to a future Bush-style US president, might be to hang shoes from power lines and telephone poles everywhere in town so that the message is visible from everywhere no matter what route the presidential motorcade will take to get in and out of town. It will be a spectacle to remember and the number of shoes hanging in protest a new Guinness world record countries will compete in!
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Showing posts with label Japanese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Chopsticks
Does anyone else here feel annoyed about chopsticks that have to be manually separated? Why can't chopsticks already come separated in the little package? I have been told that I am obsessive about it. I know it bothers me to look at chopsticks unevenly separated at the top. Of course, it's almost impossible to manually split them evenly.
Good Asian restaurants serve plastic or other finer material chopsticks that are already separated and symmetrical. It's usually with the cheap wooden ones that come as a set and must be separated. Honestly, what's so difficult to sell them already separated? Any others in this world who feel this way about chopsticks?
I read somewhere that Chinese gov reinforces restaurants to use washable chopsticks. Lot of people buy those wooden one time use chopsticks something bad for the forests. I believe that is due to manufacturing reasons that it's easier not to split them in 2 pieces. Don't know exactly how it works.
I think the pizza knife might work in helping you split the chopsticks evenly. Just ask for one from the kitchen, it will also help illustrate your point about the chopsticks.
http://www.thinkaloo.com
Good Asian restaurants serve plastic or other finer material chopsticks that are already separated and symmetrical. It's usually with the cheap wooden ones that come as a set and must be separated. Honestly, what's so difficult to sell them already separated? Any others in this world who feel this way about chopsticks?
I read somewhere that Chinese gov reinforces restaurants to use washable chopsticks. Lot of people buy those wooden one time use chopsticks something bad for the forests. I believe that is due to manufacturing reasons that it's easier not to split them in 2 pieces. Don't know exactly how it works.
I think the pizza knife might work in helping you split the chopsticks evenly. Just ask for one from the kitchen, it will also help illustrate your point about the chopsticks.
http://www.thinkaloo.com
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
What do exotic recipes in gourmet food tell us about people?
This thought was posted on Thinkaloo on 18 March 2008 by member michelle
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The other day I was having dinner with a friend at an upscale, expensive Indian restaurant. We noticed that most of the items in the menu were variations of curry, a recipe that both rich and poor people eat daily. I am sure Indian gourmet food also includes recipes that you won't see people eat every day, but what is interesting is that most recipes on the menu or what people order the most in a gourmet Indian restaurant are curry variations with fresher spices and ingredients, better cooking and obviously better taste.
When I eat at an Italian gourmet restaurant this is also the case, recipes will be mostly pasta or meat variations, with pasta and meat being food people of all incomes eat every day in Italy.
But when I go to a French or Chinese upscale restaurant, chances are that most items on the menu will not be every day recipes, meaning food that people eat every day. It will be either an exotic recipe or a recipe with hard to find or very expensive ingredients.
Does recipe variation and its split on the menu of a gourmet, upscale restaurant between everyday recipes and exotic recipes tell us something about people in that country?
French kings and Chinese emperors for example were notorious for indulging in food with their chefs competing to produce food that was exclusive to the king and had exotic, exquisite taste.
Can we say that such societies are more exclusive and hierarchical? Japanese society for example is well-known for being hierarchical. Gourmet Japanese food is kaiseki cuisine which you rarely see people eat every day.
Sushi, on the other hand, was the laborers' food during the Edo period which is now considered gourmet cuisine in the West. But sushi is something that people eat often in Japan. This is why the Japanese have the highest fish consumption per capita in the world.
Don't you think it's interesting that if you go out to eat good, gourmet Indian food chances are that you will be ordering some kind of curry variation, curry being is a recipe most people eat every day in India anyway?
What conclusions can we make about the people in a country based on the composition of their gourmet food and its high or low inclusion of every day recipes and ingredients?
Have you ever thought about it? Do you think my observation is valid or is it me who might not yet have been to the truly upscale gourmet restaurants? What do you think?
Visit www.thinkaloo.com, our new online community where you can share your thoughts and knowledge, discuss your ideas, ask questions and meet smart people
---
The other day I was having dinner with a friend at an upscale, expensive Indian restaurant. We noticed that most of the items in the menu were variations of curry, a recipe that both rich and poor people eat daily. I am sure Indian gourmet food also includes recipes that you won't see people eat every day, but what is interesting is that most recipes on the menu or what people order the most in a gourmet Indian restaurant are curry variations with fresher spices and ingredients, better cooking and obviously better taste.
When I eat at an Italian gourmet restaurant this is also the case, recipes will be mostly pasta or meat variations, with pasta and meat being food people of all incomes eat every day in Italy.
But when I go to a French or Chinese upscale restaurant, chances are that most items on the menu will not be every day recipes, meaning food that people eat every day. It will be either an exotic recipe or a recipe with hard to find or very expensive ingredients.
Does recipe variation and its split on the menu of a gourmet, upscale restaurant between everyday recipes and exotic recipes tell us something about people in that country?
French kings and Chinese emperors for example were notorious for indulging in food with their chefs competing to produce food that was exclusive to the king and had exotic, exquisite taste.
Can we say that such societies are more exclusive and hierarchical? Japanese society for example is well-known for being hierarchical. Gourmet Japanese food is kaiseki cuisine which you rarely see people eat every day.
Sushi, on the other hand, was the laborers' food during the Edo period which is now considered gourmet cuisine in the West. But sushi is something that people eat often in Japan. This is why the Japanese have the highest fish consumption per capita in the world.
Don't you think it's interesting that if you go out to eat good, gourmet Indian food chances are that you will be ordering some kind of curry variation, curry being is a recipe most people eat every day in India anyway?
What conclusions can we make about the people in a country based on the composition of their gourmet food and its high or low inclusion of every day recipes and ingredients?
Have you ever thought about it? Do you think my observation is valid or is it me who might not yet have been to the truly upscale gourmet restaurants? What do you think?
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