Food Culture
A friend sent me a link to a blog called "Dyske" this morning (which I didn't get until this afternoon, since I was up until 6am playing Fallout 3). Rest assured I'm not trying for any kind of logical progression or sensible discussion, I'm just a little annoyed and having fun.
My primary reaction while reading this, after rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, was a growing sense of irritation. The impression I got -- accurate or not -- was of a cultural narcissist who regards Japanese food culture as something sacred, and not to be tainted by outsiders.
Coincidentally, this is something which has always kind of annoyed me about Japanese food. It can be likened somewhat to Apple fanaticism in my eyes. That is, people are so consumed by the culture and hype surrounding something that the object becomes its own virtue. They forget that it's an uncooked slice of fish on a plate, or an MP3 player that costs twice as much as it should. It becomes a symbol of what you want in a meal or a consumer electronics device, a surrogate for objective valuation.
Along with that comes a kind of insider's attitude (which kind of reminds me of some Linux communities). If you don't know the exact traditional way in which to appreciate Japanese food, then in some circles and/or venues you're an object of derision. If your meal has a "proper" and "improper" way to be eaten, then it's not a meal, it's a ceremony. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but one shouldn't presume to mock the people who just want to eat, and aren't interested in playing along.
This is an attitude I see everywhere regarding Japanese food. It's also an attitude that has likely tracked along with America's various food culture obsessions that have come before it. It's possible (well okay, I'd say probable) that I just don't get it. Perhaps it's some latent remnant of my Chinese heritage, which has a very practical approach to food.
My parents, for example, know what Chinese food should be like when done right. They're not transported to a sublime plane when they encounter excellent Chinese food; they're happily content, and mildly irritated when it's not as good as it should be. It's not an insult against the motherland, it's just not a very good meal.
Sometimes this can be frustrating; the few meals I've cooked for them have been greeted with a kind of reluctantly benevolent acceptance. However, it also illuminates this point: Chinese food isn't a transcendent experience, it's just good food. That's why many of the very best Chinese restaurants are greasy hole-in-the-wall places with tatty furniture, bare walls, gruff service, and unsung masters churning out excellent meals to a knowing patronage.
He asserts that Chinese and Koreans who serve Japanese food are just in it for the money. What the hell does he think Japanese restaurateurs are in it for?
Another thing -- and this is the fundamental flaw in his diatribe -- he is comparing low-end Chinese and Korean owned restaurants with an ideal "proper" Japanese establishment. All right, let's take a look at how accurately some craphole Japanese greasy spoon whips up a plate of gnocchi or a lamb biryani.
What really gets me about the article is that the author comes across as such a narcissist both about himself and his own people, and creates sweeping generalizations about Koreans, Americans, Chinese, and Japanese while holding himself up as the ideal in his own personal pantheon of good taste.
Anyway, that's my cathartic ranting for today. Wow, that's exhausting.