Food 4
Books: The History of Sushi
By Jonathan Clements. Eric C. Rath observes that in the anime series Sushi Police, fish are portrayed weeping at the injustices done to them by culinary criminals. Luckily, a three-man team travels the world “armed with wasabi machine guns, a vacuum to collect illicit sushi and chopstick nunchaku.” Sushi Police is, or course, bonkers, but […]
Tsukiji Wonderland
By Jasper Sharp. It was only last year that the Japan Foundation UK began including documentaries in its annual touring film season, with Aya Hanabusa’s intimate depiction of a family of butchers descended from the stigmatised buraku class, Tale of a Butcher Shop (2013), the first to be included in the line-up. This year, we […]
Books: The Untold History of Ramen
By Jonathan Clements. In The Untold History of Ramen, George Solt digs behind invented traditions to tell the story of one of Japan’s most famous dishes, not as a breathless account of urban cuisine, but a hard-nosed anaylsis of demographic changes, supply chains and industrial politics.
Book Review: Sushi and Beyond
By Meghan Ellis. One man eats Japan. That’s the basic premise of Michael Booth’s book (and, now, anime series) Sushi & Beyond. In fact, it’s called British Family Eats Japan in translation; as far as travel/cookery literature goes, there are few better places to visit if you’re a veteran foodie with a knack for writing. […]