Understanding a Culture through Food - Tasteless and Tasteful
JAPAN | Wednesday, 17 April 2013 | Views [1018] | Comments [4] | Scholarship Entry
Japanese cuisine may be one of the most favorite cuisine in some countries because of its unique taste. But, Indonesia is an exception. Japanese and Indonesia cuisine have a big gap of differences, especially the taste. For Indonesian, Japanese cuisine is just unwell-cooked tasteless dish. On the otherwise, Japanese think that Indonesian cuisine is extremely tasteful overcooked dish.
Even though Japanese and Indonesian eat much rice daily, their rice also taste different. Japanese rice is stickier and really suitable to eat using chopsticks. Indonesian rice is less sticky and drier, and just suitable to eat using hand or spoon. Japanese cuisine served using a tray with several bowl which contains different dish each. They only put a slice of dish in a bowl of rice, and eaten right away. Indonesian cuisine served on a plate, mixed with rice. The Japanese drink their soup, while Indonesian pour their soup on the rice.
Japanese eating habit is just troublesome for Indonesian. Indonesian eating habit designed to make them eat faster, divide all the dishes in different bowl only wasting much time. Because some of Indonesian, especially in Sulawesi island, believe that if you can’t finish your food quickly, you’ll get married on your late age. Japanese eating habit designed to keep each dish original taste. Japanese believe that each food preserve hardly and ruining the taste will make all the preserver sacrificial became pointless. Also, keeping a good manner while eating, could be considered as a respect for the preserver.
Japanese cuisine only use five fundamental seasoning Sashisuseso. They’re sugar, salt, vinegar, soy sauce, and bean paste. On the other hand, Indonesian use many kind of spices beside salt and sugar. For example, pepper, clove, lime, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, even marijuana. Japanese didn’t really use strong smell spices, because it also will ruin the taste.
Japanese may think that Indonesian eating habit is just disgusting. Well, Indonesian think that Japanese cuisine is disgusting. Many Japanese food contain raw veggies, meat, or fish. Because it’s not an Indonesian habit for eating raw food, everything must be cooked and seasoned with much spices.
But actually, there are Indonesian who really adore Japanese cuisine and there are Japanese who really adore Indonesian cuisine. Unfortunately, most of them didn’t really taste the real Japanese or Indonesian cuisine. Because there have been many adjustment with each other home country taste.
Tags: Travel Writing Scholarship 2013
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