Apparently, a dramedy film about udon was released here shortly after I arrived. I had no idea until this evening, when I saw an intriguing poster for it today in Kokura after having dinner at a Turkish restaurant there (to be reviewed soon).
Here’s the movie’s official site.
This is awesome. From the previews, it looks like it could be the best noodle-themed movie since Tampopo. I’m so stoked for the DVD!
How to piss off the international community and incur upon your culture accusations of barbarity and backwardness in four easy steps:
Sounds fun, right?
Hmm… maybe not.
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before;
What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye,
What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?
John Greenleaf Whittier, “The Pumpkin” (1850)
On Thursday, I thoroughly enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast with dear friends and less dear colleagues – mostly other gaijin – at Cheryl’s apartment here in Kitakyushu. The food, which included everything you’d expect at a Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, green bean casserole, etc.) and some things you might not (pork tenderloin, kinako-crusted pumpkin pie, Rochefort 8, Chimay Première, La Trappe Tripel, etc.), was absolutely delicious. And I mean delicious. Eat-till-it-hurts-but-then-still-want-more delicious. More delicious than I ever remember Thanksgiving fare being. Which made me wonder: was it so amazing because it actually was better than any previous year’s Thanksgiving dinner, or was it so amazing because of my own nostalgic associations with it? Or maybe my beer pairings were just exceptionally well-chosen. At any rate, it was great fun, and it made me think… hmm, maybe I do have a culture of my own, after all.
“No MSG.” This self-congratulatory proclamation adorns countless food packages around the Anglosphere. We’ve all seen it, on bags of potato chips or Chinese takeout menus, on instant noodles or those “just add meat and sour cream” Mexican meal kits. Oh thank heavens, we think when we spot it. This food is safe. This food is [...]
This is another article for FukuokaJET.com. Each establishment’s address, phone number, and opening hours can be found at the very end of the post. Please leave a comment if you need directions! In response to comments graciously informing of new beer developments in Fukuoka, I have updated this article on September 23, 2009. Kyushu is [...]
On my recent, brief trip to New York to visit family and friends, I had a checklist of specific foods I wanted to eat there; I wanted nothing but good food experiences – nothing mediocre, nothing mundane. To these ends, the trip was beyond satisfactory. Fork-tender Greek-style grilled octopus, colorful piles of Ethiopian curries on [...]
This is an article I’ve been working on for FukuokaJET.com, a resource website made for JETs living in Fukuoka prefecture, especially new recruits. The information here focuses on Fukuoka, but I think it’s a fairly good survey of the major ramen styles for anybody who’s interested. Tonkotsu (Pork Bone) 豚骨・とんこつ Tonkotsu ramen is the richest [...]
The other day at one of the middle schools where I work, a certain poster caught my eye. It advocated “balance” in your daily diet and featured a graphic that reminded me an awful lot of the USDA’s food pyramid:
