Cooking with Grandmas

One day last week we were called in the staff room and told that there was someone waiting for us in the office downstairs that wanted to meet us. This came as somewhat of a suprise given that we are ALTs (Official title: The Scum of the Universe). Well, maybe that’s a bit harsh but often it does feel like the coffeepot in the corner of the office is respected more than us. That’s not even the nice coffeepot either, it’s the skanky old one in the corner that everyone hates and that they kick every time they walk past. Where was I? Oh yeah, people coming to visit.

We headed down and a very excitable old man informed us that on Sunday in Suzurandai there was an international good-will cooking party with foreigners. He said this all in one breath very quickly and it took me a while to realise that he was actually speaking English and not just swearing at me in Spanish. This is something which I’ve come to expect when I’m talking with older Japanese men. They love their Spanish insults, so they do. To cut a long story short(er) we said yes and on Sunday went into the Kita ward office. There we met many very energetic older Japanese people who wanted to teach us how to cook Japanese dishes.

They did this by cooking the dishes themselves and specifically prohibiting us from doing anything except (and this was quite a concession) breathing. At one stage Dave was appointed to the task of mixing flour but was then told he was doing it wrong and the task was passed on nazi-cooking-grandma #43. I was allowed to cut some cabbage, but then I cut my finger like three seconds after they gave me the knife. I was fussed over and the very carefully placed in a corner to watch and die quietly of blood loss. In the end we made (in the loosest sense of the word) Miso soup, Sushi (Nigiri), Tempura, Oyakoudon and Okonomiyaki and it did doth rule. I’ve never eaten so much raw octopus in my life.

Lots of really friendly people and a tonne of fun. I took a lot of pictures which I plan to post this evening. If you’re lucky. Slimebags.

Permalink Posted in Japan on Wednesday July 7, 2004.