The TV drama, Kuitan (Gluttonous Detective), was not only amusing, but it was also very informative. For example, you can learn a lot about differences in food culture between Kanto (Eastern Japan; area in and around Tokyo) and Kansai (Western Japan; area in and around Osaka) from Episode 6 of Kuitan 2.
テレビドラマ「喰いタン」（食いしん坊探偵）は、面白いだけでなく、とても勉強になります。例えば、喰いタン２のエピソード６では、関東と関西の食文化の違いをたくさん知ることができます。
Kuitan2 Ep06 1 0f 6
At 3:15, Kuitan finds a takoyaki machine. Osaka is famous for takoyaki. In fact, it is said that every household in Osaka has a takoyaki machine.
At 6:41, Kurara places a tray on the table that contains kitsune (lit. fox, seasoned abura age) udon in light-colored broth, Osaka-style okonomiyaki, and a bowl of rice. Other dishes shown include kushi katsu (skewered cutlets), niku-jaga (meat*-potato stew), and dashimaki tamago, which is less sweet than atsuyaki tamago in Kanto.
*The default meat in Kansai is beef, not pork. When the people in Kansai say "niku" (meat), they mean beef. In Kanto, niku means pork.
Kuitan2 Ep06 1 0f 6
3:15、喰いタンはたこ焼き器を見つけます。大阪はたこ焼きで有名です。大阪のどの家庭にもたこ焼き器があると言われています。
6:41、くららさんが、テーブルにお盆を置きます。お盆には、薄い色の汁に入ったきつねうどん、大阪風お好み焼き、茶碗に入ったご飯が乗っています。他の料理は、串カツ、肉じゃが、出し巻き卵（関東の厚焼き玉子より甘くない）などです。
*関西では肉は豚肉ではなく、牛肉です。関西の人が「肉」と言ったら、牛肉を指します。関東では、「肉」は豚肉を意味します。
To be continued/続く
Maybe it's a stupid question, but which "meat" meaning is more widespread in Japan? Is it - in majority of the country - like in China, where meat usually means pork or the other way you mention?
ReplyDeleteI love watching films, where people eat, talk about food etc.. I remember the beautiful film "Still Walking" (Aruitemo aruitemo??) by Kore-Eda Hirokazu, where my favourite scenes were food -related and which made me dream all Winter to make the fried fresh sweetcorn exactly like it was made in the film. (Actually I saw it several times and even have my own dvd now...) I suppose the film you mention is not on dvd or/and not translated into English...
I saw both Kuitan and Kuitan 2 on mysoju.com, both have English subtitle. I totally agree with Hiroyuki san about the drama, it is very interesting and informative about the Japanese food culture.
ReplyDelete勉強になりました。
Okasan, thank you very much for the advice. I have bookmarked the mysoju.com and will be very happy to follow the adventures of the detective - gourmet!
ReplyDeleteI first fell in love with japanese cooking while watching tampopo タンポポ by Juzo Itami many years ago. Since than I am addicted to ramen and infected the whole family :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the hint to the new series.
Kuitan was one of my favourite dorama ^-^
ReplyDeleteIt was funny and you do not only learn about different food but also traditions concerned with eating which Ryosuke and Kindaichi had to learn.
Hiroyuki, thank you very much for having written about Kuitan; Okasan, thank you once more for Mysoju website address.
ReplyDeleteI have just seen the first episode and am simply enchanted! Now I know it's not a "gourmet", but a "gluttonous" detective; I have learnt so many things about the Japanese food culture and even one very practical polite expression in Japanese, not to mention that the film is really funny and characters charming.
I am extremely grateful to you both for this discovery and look forward to watch next Kuitan episodes.
Sissi: According
ReplyDeletehttp://q.hatena.ne.jp/1176512781
(Japanese only),
more than half the respondents answered "beef" to the question, "When you say meat, (you mean...)?
About a quarter answered pork.
Other answeres include chicken, horsemeat, venison, and wild boar.
okasan: Thanks for you mention of mysoju.com!
ReplyDeleteI visited the site, and spent a lot of time watching Kuitan, Osen, and Bartender.
Sadly, I can't watch Kuitan 2 on mysoju.com, so I have to rely on YouTube to watch it.
Kiki: Tampopo is a favorite of mine, too. I have a DVD of it, and have watched it many times.
ReplyDeletetorwen: Not only Ryosuke and Kindaichi but also the average Japanese like me can learn a lot from this drama.
ReplyDeleteHiroyuki, thank you so much for answering my strange "meat" question... It is very interesting. My husband, when saying "meat" thinks beef most of the time, like most French people do, while I include "chicken" and all the poultry.
ReplyDeleteThank you also for all the new titles.
I have heard so many times of Tampopo, I must buy the dvd one day.
Sissi: Tampopo is worth watching, but one word of caution: Don't believe everything that the old man tells Gun about the proper way to eat ramen!
ReplyDeleteSissi san,Hiroyuki san, you are very welcome. There is another good drama that you might be interested is called Bambino. It talks about the hardship of becoming a chef in Italian cooking in Japan. You can get to that after Kuitan 2. I've seen Osen, another good one about traditional Japanese cooking!
ReplyDeleteokasan: Thanks for your suggestion! I will watch Bambino! (Back in 2007, I wasn't a fan of Arashi, and I wasn't interested in the drama.)
ReplyDeleteOkasan, thanks a lot once more! I'll watch Bambino too. I am very curious about this one... Osen is definitely my favourite now (the drinking heroine is unbeatable ;-) )
ReplyDelete