Posted in food, kyoto on Apr 9th, 2007 No Comments »
List of Kyoto vegetables (A)
Kyo takenoko (bamboo shoot)
A spring vegetable grown in Nishiyama, the Western Hills. The young shoots of bamboo (raised by farmers) are eaten after boiling, but Kyo takenoko is also eaten uncooked, just after being dug up, and dipped in vinegared miso. The taste is sweet, the flesh soft.
Kyo myoga (mioga, […]
Posted in food, kyoto on Apr 3rd, 2007 No Comments »
Kyo-yasai:
Vegetables cultivated in Kyoto since the Edo period or earlier. Most of these came originally from China or Korea (Japan has very few indigenous vegetables, mainly mioga (a sort of ginger) and seri (dropworth). The rest was introduced from the Asian mainland between the fifth and twelfth centuries and afterwards “domesticated” in Japan. These vegetables […]
Posted in food on Mar 18th, 2007 No Comments »
In the bottled tea wars, competing manufacturers are doing their best to differentiate their product. “Golden stick tea” is an interesting example from The Coca Cola Company, which sells various Japanese teas under the name Hajime.
This is not normal green tea, but roasted green tea or Hojicha (Hoji Tea). The custom of roasting tea leaves […]
Posted in internet, food, culture, art and photography, travel and places, museums, news on Mar 15th, 2007 No Comments »
From March 20 to June 17 the Tokyo National Museum will host The Mind of Leonardo, an exhibition with as its centerpiece The Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci. This exhibition is part of the Italian festival in Japan this spring called Primavera Italiana 2007. Not everyone in Italy was happy that this priceless work was […]
Posted in food, intercultural on Mar 9th, 2007 No Comments »
This is a pet bottle of Tochu-cha, tea made from the leaves of the Eucommia tree, in China called Duzhong. The Duzhong has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine. The bark of the 15 meter high tree is, for example, believed to alleviate lower back pain and aching knees.
The deciduous leaves contain rubber (it […]
Posted in food, culture on Mar 8th, 2007 No Comments »
What strikes me about Kobe, is the endless number of bars and restaurants. Here is one in the Yamamotodori district close to the famous Ijinkan area. At first sight an ordinary concrete building next to a 24-hour parking lot…
But when you like closer, a text on the window strikes your eye.
The owner must be […]
Posted in food, technology, intercultural on Jan 6th, 2007 2 Comments »
This is not an advertisement for milk cacao drinks from Bourbon - although the contents of this small bottle tasted not bad. No, when buying this plastic bottle with a hot beverage in it, I was reminded of the fact that Japan is perhaps the only country in the world where hot beverages are sold […]
Posted in food, design, intercultural on Dec 30th, 2006 No Comments »
Saw this advertisement for Iemon green tea from Suntory today on the JR Tozai line in Osaka. It has the form of a noren, a traditional shop curtain, and is indeed made from textile rather than paper. Also the New Year decoration (shimekazari) attached to the curtain is real - including the straw and […]
Posted in food, calendar, intercultural, kyoto on Dec 29th, 2006 No Comments »
[Namagashi shop Kano in Fushimi. Photo Ad Blankestijn]
This namagashi shop near the Otesuji Shopping Arcade in Fushimi (Momoyamagoryo St on the Keihan line in Kyoto) is in full swing to produce mochi (glutinous ricecakes) for the New Year festivities.
They are placed on racks in front of the shop to dry and judging by their size […]
Posted in food on Nov 7th, 2006 2 Comments »
Eating Japanese food outside Japan can be quite a disaster. In my home country, the Netherlands, Japanese food all too often means teppanyaki and in most such restaurants the food is prepared by Chinese cooks. They can be quite creative and perform great shows with their knives on the metal hot plate (one cook was […]
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