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发表于 2011-8-1 13:17:04
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VOX POPULI: Traditional seasonal foods offer relief from the heat
On my way to a neighborhood library, I noticed small eggplants growing in a planter on a cinder block wall. Their glossy dark purple skins reflected the summer sky. Summer vegetables are not only cool to the eye, many are said to actually cool human bodies from the inside.
We are blessed to be living in a country that offers a wonderful variety of local seasonal delicacies. For instance, "dashi" is a traditional summer specialty of Yamagata Prefecture. Made of finely chopped fresh cucumbers, eggplants, "myoga" ginger, "oba" Japanese basil and "konbu" seaweed, tossed together and seasoned with soy sauce, "dashi" is served as a topping on plain boiled rice or tofu.
The concoction originated as a simple side dish during summer, the busiest farming season. Every family is said to have its own recipe. Ichitaro Kokubun (1911-1985), a Yamagata Prefecture-born writer of children's stories, once wrote: "Whenever I eat it, I remember my grandmother and mother chopping the vegetables rhythmically. The memory reminds me of the umbilical cord that still joins me to my hometown."
I thought of making it myself, but opted for a ready-made package I found at "Oishii Yamagata Plaza," a store in Tokyo's Ginza district specializing in Yamagata specialties. I mixed it with my bowl of rice for supper. I would've preferred it less salty, but the "taste of summer" I savored with every bite worked up my appetite. My tummy felt pleasantly cool, too.
A haiku by Yosa Buson (1716-1784) goes: "In a pail/ Melons and eggplants/ Nod to one another." The vegetables are said to represent strangers hitting it off on their first meeting. Whether or not this interpretation is correct, the poem does depict a refreshingly cool scene in the heat of summer. I can readily visualize the vivid green of the melons and the purple of the eggplants, bobbing in cold water--perhaps from well water--as if exchanging greetings.
In this summer of energy conservation, perhaps we need the sensitivity to find coolness in even just one vegetable. This was a trick all Japanese knew and practiced until several generations ago. If we search, there are still lots of things that can keep us cool--screen doors, natural springs, the old custom of sprinkling water on the ground, and so on.
--The Asahi Shimbun, July 29 |
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