Ohba

I've been hoping to add an oven to my kitchen setup in Japan. What I used before I moved here was nothing elaborate: a countertop oven just large enough to roast a reasonably big chicken. Although at the time I hankered after something better, it was in fact perfectly adequate for most of my purposes, and bearing in mind the impossibility of installing a full size version. What I've seen so far in Japan has been less encouraging: to replace the type I previously had would cost around 40,000 yen, when I only paid around 12,000 for mine. It's hard to swallow that large a jump in price. So I have been wondering if anyone has experience of the "oven-range" combos (microwave + oven) in terms of their efficiency as ovens. They certainly seem to be cheaper. However, I should say that I am no fan of microwaves. Never use them -- so I would only be buying one for its oven function. Are they an adequate substitute for an oven-only model, or is there no getting around the more expensive option?

No. 3 is bullshit is well. Beneath contempt, but bullshit, nonetheless.

I'm extremely unversed in scientific matters. I suppose if I knew a whole let less, I might find this vaguely persuasive: http://www.rawfoods.com/articles/eatonlyraw.html http://www.rawfoods.com/faq.html

The idea of the chefs not writing their own recipe books doesn't bother me hugely. And I think that "celebrity chef" is too much of a catch-all term, as well: to give some examples, there are chefs who are celebrities (Jamie Oliver), people with TV cooking shows who have become celebrities (Delia Smith), TV hams (Floyd), and interpreters/propagators of national cuisines for people in other countries (Madhur Jaffrey). They're quite different in what they do, and even in the nature of their celebrity, although they're all quite influential. What's contained in the recipe books is also quite important: quite a lot of these people will have thrown in a recipe for something really basic and traditional for something like tomato sauce for pasta, or vinaigrette. Now as a chef, it's pretty difficult to bring your own spin to that in black and white text, however good you might make it taste when you cook it; and you certainly can't claim to have invented it or even to be making it in a way that no one else has tried. I can't quite see where the college course parallel applies, either. That's fine for college work to expect and indeed demand that the student has produced their own writing. (Though having edited written output from academics, I think it should be pointed out that a great many are incapable of writing work that doesn't require heavy input from an editor before it's fit for print - and we're talking simple linguistic matters here like grammar and coherence. You really don't want to know...). However, academic principles don't and needn't apply in the real world. It's quite well understood by the public that ghost writers are brought in when the "author" isn't up to scratch (autobiographies, for example), and it's not unnatural when that author is not a professional writer. I'd rather see the celebrities knocking out cookbooks, which at least tell you how to make something for yourself, than stamping their name on cookware and sauce bottles, which to me is just the ultimate sellout.

How can anyone not detest: The reek of a McDonalds. Nothing like it to bring down the tone of the whole neighbourhood. The smell of instant noodles. Admit it, that stuff's just not food, is it? Popcorn.

People in Tokyo are quite resourceful in using any bit of available outdoor space for, among other things, growing plants, often in containers. Most apartments have a small balcony for drying clothes, which sometimes get used for plants as well. Steps, stairs, and the space around external walls and even parts of the pavement or roadside are also used. The fact that space is so limited could even work against the AeroGarden for some people, because not everyone will want to sacrifice precious internal space for plants.

I dare anyone on this board to try the "natto tomato" and dislike it, that is if you like raw tomatoes and natto in the first place. My students have even spread my "secrect recipe" to their families now. Before you know it I will be being profiled in one of those housewife magazines... ← My wife will take that dare, more fool her. I was intrigued to see that this concept divided people more or less along ethnic lines, so I mentioned this discussion to her yesterday. She (Japanese) instantly expressed aversion to the very idea of combining tomato and natto. Fortunately, she's openminded enough to at least give it a shot. I haven't tried it myself, but I see no reason why it shouldn't taste good.

Really? Are they exporting? I've never seen any Chinese foie gras at retail. Maybe they're more readily available through wholesale channels. How is the quality? Animal cruelty laws are way behind in China. At least we can be sure they won't be banning foie gras any time soon -- unless PETA pushes through an international treaty! That would be scary. ← Well, to put it into perspective, foie gras is a FRENCH speciality, and I'm not aware of any serious attempts to ban it in France. The movement to ban it in various parts of the States is, globally speaking, an irrelevance, and can just be added to the long list of British and American food neuroses that other countries would do very well to avoid. I don't know much about the Chinese foie gras, though I've heard it's of inferior quality at present. Not having had the best of the best French, I couldn't say what that means. It might be perfectly acceptable as a cheaper alternative. Do they export it? I would imagine that is the reason they began producing it in the first place. The quality may well improve, as has happened with other Chinese products, and even if it doesn't, not everyone is going to insist on the finest hand-reared produce. Any more than they insist on the finest cheese, fish, beef, or 18 year old single malt whisky, so I guess there will always be a market for it.

China's already a big producer.

You might not have had food to your taste, and perhaps will never acquire a taste for Portuguese food, but 3 nights doesn't really give enough time to scratch the surface of what Lisbon can offer. Foam really isn't what Portuguese food is about, and long may it stay that way. I agree with Tsquare on this, that sticking to traditional and simple food is where you'll be most rewarded. Or would have been.

I think Ole Spanish restaurant is worth a mention (just down from the Foreign Correspondents' Club and the Fringe Club). It's not cheap, but it's nice to get European food simply done, instead of the fussy presentations that are such an obsession in Hong Kong. Their desserts, however, lean towards the sculptural end of things. I liked a place called Plats too, which always seems be too busy to book on the same day. It's above the Greenlands Curry Club in Central, and is one of those private dining clubs that became popular in Hong Kong recently. Very unfussy. Hong Kong could really use a lot more places like that. European food can so often be disappointing, overrated and overpriced.

No, that's alright. I prefer to believe that these things can be said online, and if not there, then they can be left unsaid.

You mean different ideas from, erm, 'us'? Come off it, Tokyo and Bangkok are 2800 miles apart. You can't just throw them together like that. Geographically, that's twice the distance from London to Moscow, and further than London to Cairo. Sorry but if you insist on chucking around sweeping generalizations (in the cause of making a negative cultural comparison), I do feel a duty to offer some kind of challenge to it.

Well if you read mine, you'll notice that I never suggested you did. I mentioned precisely the absence of such a perspective. However, we'll just have to disagree on whether it's a common sight or not, though it's hardly a trivial distinction. May I assume from the way you introduced both points, that your two encounters with abandoned dogs and your work with the animal refuge centre were unconnected?

double post, see following

I've got to agree with Hiroyuki there. I think that was a largely pointless crack. I don't see an obviously worse level of animal treatment in Japan than in Britain. Not to say that it is or it isn't worse - but your comment could use a little perspective. Like, it's not at all a common sight.

I'm interested to see that even among Americans, perhaps the most vociferously pro-tipping society, there is no universal agreement on what percentage is appropriate. It does throw up a lot of issues though, mixed up as it is with social etiquette (and embarrassment), guilt, low wages, level of service, etc etc. I tend to agree with those who said that it should reflect your actual satisfaction with the service, though I suppose a socially appropriate alternative in the American context would be to tip regardless of bad service and withhold your custom from that particular establishment next time round. I am careful to tip the amount expected, but I don't necessarily agree with the system that led to it. 20 percent sounds just as arbitrary as 10 or 15. Obviously for the staff, it's better, but if the tip is supposed to additionally reflect your concern for the welfare of waiters (on top of your appreciation for good service), shouldn't it be 30, 35 or 40 percent - and would that make their earnings adequate anyway? Ultimately the system of tipping seems to bring out a lot of people's bad instincts: the generous, the cheapskates, and the waiting staff alike. I won't even mention the owners.

Just out of interest, as I've never been to a country where 20 percent is the accepted norm, how has it become so high? How long has it been that way - and why not higher?

All over the net. They're easy to find. I ordered some chilli seeds from a company in South Africa. If you're going the seed route though, by the time they arrive, you might be too late for good results this year.

Probably more information than you'll need, but there's a very nice chilli site here: Fatalii's Growing Guide.

I think Helen's right about the chillis. They take a while to germinate, for me it's been three weeks to a month up to now. Am I right in thinking this May has had much less sunny warm weather than a normal year? With the summer on the way, chillis should be able to germinate much faster, so if you've got any seeds left, keep planting. Same goes for a lot of other plants. e.g basil should germinate and grow quickly now, as should a lot of herbs.

Perhaps it went the way of aerosol coffee and similar bad ideas. But I didn't dream it.

Sliced white bread labelled 'Mild Bread'. I suppose for people who find the regular commercial product just too rugged and in-your-face.

"Mild bread" is one product that's still got me scratching my head.

Coca Cola. Undrinkable, along with all its carbonated cousins.