Plateful of Nippon

LAST week I was at the Japanese Consulate. There was an air of excitement around. An interactive movie presentation was being screened. Present with me were a clutch of Japanese women and a fe
Lan Minagawa playing the perfect host
Lan Minagawa playing the perfect host
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LAST week I was at the Japanese Consulate. There was an air of excitement around. An interactive movie presentation was being screened. Present with me were a clutch of Japanese women and a few connoisseurs of Japanese cuisine. The hall echoed with 'oohs' and 'aahs' at the mention of familiar recipes, places and ingredients. "Presentation Nalla irukka?" said a voice next to me. Turning to look at who said that I was for a moment stunned: The speaker was Japanese! We smiled at each other, and from then on Kazuka Harita was my 'maid in shinning armour', helping me understand everything that needed to be — from the Teriyaki sauce to the Kaisiki cuisine of preparing authentic Green tea.

The reason I was there was because Lan Minagawa, wife of the Consul-General of Japan, thought of giving a taste of Japan to Chennaiites. Fifty close friends of Lan rolled up their sleeves to get into some culinary action. This was not the first time though that Lan was putting up such a show. "Ma'am has also held a Kimono-saree exchange meet. The Japanese were wrapped in pattu podavai while the Indians ended up in elegant Kimono!" said Vijayalaksmi, secretary to the Consul-General.

This time, the Consul-Genral was there, watching all the action from close up – the Sushi making. "Last year there were only 200 Japanese in Chennai, this year there are nearly 700, a small yet sizable increase. We love Chennai!" smiled Kazuo Minagawa.

Lan Minagawa was busy running around ensuring all went fine. A Vietnamese by birth, she's fully immersed in everything that's Japan culture. She attributes the success to television! She is self-taught, with the TV as teacher, an example of how geographical divides could be overcome to know another culture. "We (Japanese) eat with our eyes, so presentation (is) very important," Lan said, giving a hand in making Sushi wraps with the ready made Noorie sheets, flavoured rice and Salmon (substitute for the authentic Yellow-tail) fish slices.

There was veg Sushi, too, and being a vegetarian I was thrilled to try them. Kazuka told me how difficult it was to get authentic Japanese ingredients in Chennai. “We showed the picture of the Yellow-tail fish to a fisherman up north (beyond Marina that is) and if he gets one, he will call us immediately. It is a bit costly, and tastes different because of the different sea, but still, nothing like it," said Kyoko, a housewife who has been in Chennai for two years, finds a lot of similarities in both cultures, from the extensive use of rice to even similar grammatical conjugations.

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