教員コラムBlog

  1. home
  2. 教員コラム / Blog
  3. 詳細 / Detail

Food for Thought

2023.07.31
Photo Credit: Kai Reschke @ Pixabay

Have you ever wondered why Japan has curry when none of your near Asian neighbours have it? Some of you may be fully aware of the answer, but some of you may not. The answer is Japanese curry is from the English via India. In the Meiji period, the Japanese Navy worked closely with the Royal Navy and it was introduced to the Japanese public in the 1870s from the Japanese Navy. To this day in the Japanese Navy, Friday is curry day. 

And, talking about Indian food, what do you think of? Curry? Of course. Spicy? Usually. Potatoes? Tomatoes? In fact, chillies, potatoes and tomatoes were introduced to India from South America in the 1600s by the Portuguese, and they, the Indians, made wonderful use of them. Then chillies spread to China, Korea (imagine kimchi without spice) and the rest of Asia. 

Why do Americans call chips (British English) French Fries? French Fries are from Belgium from Spain from Peru and Bolivia. They’re called “French Fries” in America because that is where Americans first saw them, in France. The British famous dish of “fish and chips” was possibly also introduced from Portugal as the Portuguese have a longer tradition of frying fish and vegetables (like tempura). Potatoes have become such an important food around the world that 350 million tonnes were produced in 2020 with 25% of them grown in China. 

Tomatoes also have an interesting history, travelling from Mesoamerica (the slim part between North America and South America) to the rest of the world. Imagine a salad or pizza (most pizzas) without tomatoes or a lot of other European foods. However, when tomatoes were introduced to Europe, people would not eat them and only grew them to look pretty in the garden. The reason for this was the belief that tomatoes were poisonous. 

This blog is too short to explore this topic in any real detail, but it might inspire you to think about where your food is from. We all share one tiny planet in a huge galaxy and an unimaginably big universe. We are lucky we are close enough to each other that we can share ideas, foods, herbs and spices, art, music, and everything that makes us an active member of the human race. And, on a final note, I will end with a quote (possibly from Robert Baden-Powell – founder of the Scouts organisation): “Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints, and kill nothing but time.”


Questions:

1. Who introduced curry to Japan?
A. Indian
B. Chinese
C. British

2. Where did chilies come from?
A. Korea
B. South America
C. Portuguese

3. Why did Europeans not eat/use tomatoes at first?
A. they thought they were poisonous
B. they thought they were dirty
C. they did not like things from America


Scroll down ↓ for the answers














Answers:

1. C
2. B
3. A

戻る / go back

Related posts