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The serene beauty of
Kyoto's Golden Pavilion temple is symbolic of traditional Japanese culture
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In Japan, cuisine is
culture, and culture cuisine; food is meant to create order out of chaos
and complement nature from whence it come
. . . JAPAN |
Japan
FROM THE LAND OF ENDLESS
INGENUITY HAS COME A CUISINE DESIGNED FOR THE EYES AS WELL AS THE PALATE.
MORE THAN ANY OTHER
CUISINE IN THE WORLD, JAPANESE FOOD IS A COMPLETE AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE FOR
THE EYES, THE NOSE AND THE PALATE. THE PRESENTATION OF FOOD ITSELF, WITH
GREAT CARE GIVEN TO DETAIL, COLOR, FORM AND BALANCE.
BACKGROUND
While retaining its time-honored culture, Japan rapidly absorbed Western technology during the late 19th and early
20th centuries. After its devastating defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become the second most powerful economy in the world and a
staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians,
bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth.
ECONOMY
Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small
defense allocation (1% of GDP) have helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically powerful economy
in the world after the US and third largest economy in the world after the US and China. One notable characteristic of the economy is the working
together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely-knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the guarantee of
lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding. Industry, the most important sector of the
economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The much smaller agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected,
with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self-sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its requirements of other
grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three
decades overall real economic growth had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s.
Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s largely because of the aftereffects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary
domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock
and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth have
met with little success and were further hampered in 2000-02 by the
slowing of the US and Asian economies. The crowding of habitable land area
and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems. Robotics
constitutes a key long-term economic strength, with Japan possessing
410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots".
THE JAPANESE KITCHEN &
TABLE
A Japanese meal can be divided into a
beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning includes appetizers, clear
soups and raw fish (sashimi). The 'middle' of the meal is made up
of a number of seafood, meat, poultry and vegetable dishes prepared by
either grilling, steaming, or deep-frying. To ensure variety, style of
preparation would be used only once for the food making up the 'middle' of
the meal. Alternatively, the variety of 'middle' dishes can be replaced by
a hot-pot (nabe), a one-dish combination of seafood, meat, poultry,
bean curd and noodles. The meal concludes with rice, miso soup and
pickles, green tea and fresh fruits.
The presentation of Japanese food is an art
that encourages the cook's imagination and creativity. Even the choice of
table ware is influenced by the season and the type of food being served.
Generally speaking, food which are round, such as pieces of rolled meat is
presented on rectangular or square plates. Meanwhile, square-shaped foods
are likely to be served on round plates for contrast. Plates and bowls can
also be hexagonal, semicircular, fan-shaped or resemble a leaf or shell.
It is said in Japan that " a person cannot go out naked in public, neither
can the food."
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