Yo! Its the Japanese food Five-0! at Schema : more than ethnic

Yo! Its the Japanese food Five-0!

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The Sun's food critic Mia Stainsby reported on Nov. 25 that Japan's "minister of agriculture, displeased about what's passing for Japanese food abroad, said that starting in 2007, the government will offer official seals of approval to overseas restaurants that pass the Japanese standards of authenticity." Daaam. The French nor Italian dont even have this apparent kind of food police, perhaps this minister of agriculture could do a little consultation with cultural experts and take note that while some Japanese restaurants world wide may be able to get this so-called seal of approval, if this move gets more publicized, there is probably a greater chance that Japanese people as a whole will get stamped with a huge seal of pretentiousness.

My dad always used to whine about how Japanese figures of authority, whether it in sports, education or the arts, always used to make it seem that things were a lot more difficult or complicated than they really are. I mentioned this story to him and he could only role his eyes but I wonder what he think if he actually read this quote from Toshikatsu Matsuoka, the agricultural minister of Japan (who was quoted in the Washington Post as saying): "Sometimes you can tell just by looking at the signs that these places are phony. What people need to understand is that real Japanese food is a highly developed art. It involves all the senses; it should be beautifully presented, use genuine ingredients and be made by a trained chef. What we are seeing now that restaurants that pretend to offer Japanese cooking but are really Korean, Chinese or Filipino. We must protect our food culture."

Now, this remark was made by Matsuoka in light of a test run in Paris this year where the the top secret, under cover food agents sent by the Japanese government inspected 80 Japanese restaurants. Sure, Paris is the not the world hot spot of Japanese food outside Japan but personally, as a Japanese Canadian living in Vancouver, I enjoy the cheaper menus at the non-Japanese run restaurants in town with the Chinese style, bigger bang for the buck, quantities as well as appreciating the fact that when I do crave a more authentic meal (and dont mind shelling the extra bucks out for it), I also have an array of local options to seek out too.

I stick with the "you get what you pay for" motto for most things.

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