Fresh Yakitori – grilled meat, seafood or vegetables on a skewer, at the Sunday outdoor market in Kochi, Shikoku
CULINARY BLISS
Bliss is defined in Wikipedia as “an emotional state that is characterized by perfect happiness (feelings of enjoyment,
pleasure, and satisfaction). Culinary Bliss refers to a state of euphoria (intense satisfaction) based on food and drink.
It refers to that dish placed before you where the appearance is so pleasing, the aroma so tantalizing that the first taste
results in laying down your chopsticks and just relishing the intense, creative, pleasurable sensations that the food
unleashes, as the flavours wend their way through your senses, creating that explosive taste-bud ‘wow’.
Most people travel in the pursuit of pleasure, whether it’s a beach vacation, a journey of adventure or something inbetween. But the one aspect that links them together is the food in which the destination specializes. Now I did meet
a travel educator once who shocked me by stating that he would never visit a country where he could not order
western food for all his meals. This was not due to any food sensitivities. To him it was a matter of principle that if he
was spending money to visit a country, there had to be some compromise for him to eat his breakfast of bacon and
eggs. But this person seems to be the anomaly, as most people enjoy tasting, trying, sampling and indulging all their
senses in the pursuit of good food. Japan is so ideally suited to these travellers, whether your preference is fish, meat
or vegetarian. And by the way, the most popular foods-sushi and sashimi taste so different in Japan from what most
people taste in their home town in the U.S or Canada. We are talking about melt-in-your mouth, fresh seafood and
real, honest-to- goodness freshly prepared sushi rice: the creation and pride of the resident passionate chef.
Mything my Meals. A common Myth-perception about visiting Japan relates to the cost of meals. There are in fact
sushi restaurants where the set menu will cost 30,000 Yen (roughly $310.00 US). But you can find upscale speciality
restaurants in every city in the world. In Japan you can easily eat according to your budget, and the range of eating
establishments stretches from food concessions in the Tsukiji fish market, to fresh ready-to-eat meals available at
convenience stores, to chain restaurants, and food courts in both shopping malls and department stores. You can eat
lunch for as little as $5.00, with an average price being about $15.00 per person at a food court. And the great thing
about Japan is that almost without exception, food services are clean and the food is freshly prepared.