RANT 'N' RAVE
Bread blues
 |
Illustration by
Yukiko Leitch |
|
I need to know a few things. Who's in
charge of the bread in this country? Is it someone at one of the ministries? Is it a
covert attempt to keep foreigners from staying in Japan?
You know what I mean. You walk in your local supermarket looking for foodstuffs to make
that Dagwood special you always loved back home. You come to the vegetable section. The
tomatoes are there, so is the lettuce and onions. Next to the veggies are the condiments,
mayonnaise and mustard. On to the meats - ham, bacon, and, occasionally, pastrami.
In the bread section you look for the whole wheats, the five grains, the French and
Italian bread, but to no avail. Bagels? Pumpernickel? Rye? Sourdough? Nope. What about
rolls? Forget it. What you do have are white breads. The six-slice variety or the
eight-slice variety. For the adventurous, a thickly sliced white bread is also offered.
You look in disbelief. There has to be more. Around in the other aisle? No, that's the
seaweed section.
Okay, the local supermarkets can't have everything. Of course, why didn't you think of it
earlier? The local bakery! But what do you find at your bakery shop? Corn pizza, croquette
sandwiches, yakisoba sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, mayonnaise pastry,
mochi-cheese balls, and some stuff you haven't figured out yet. In the corner there is the
bread - the same white, sticky, pasty, non-fibrous, six- and eight-sliced variety that you
found at the supermarket.
It's a pathetic situation and does little to promote Japan's image of being an
international country. With the explosion of ethnic restaurants and pizza deliveries you'd
think that a basic food item like bread would have developed past the white bread stage.
If I were braver I would make an official protest, but I don't want to cause problems in
the country that pays me. I know which side my bread is buttered on and I have pride in
being the breadwinner in my family.
A Japanese friend whom I knew before I ever came to this bread barren land told me,
"You'll love the bread in Japan. It's so soft!" He was wrong. I can't stand the
stuff. But I am beginning to acquire a taste for the mochi-cheese balls.
Many thanks to TC readerMilton Combs for this Rant and Rave.
|
RANTS
AND RAVES: