tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-96889612011-04-22T05:06:11.637+09:00Food, fatherhood and all that stuff.Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.comBlogger361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-28870220864589778162008-06-23T08:26:00.002+09:002008-06-23T08:29:19.442+09:00

Yes, that's peking.com.But it's hyphenated. Other Chinese cities, such as Xian, Dalian, and Qingdao have been picked up. I even have T-A-I-W-A-N. Why? Follow this space for more info.

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-73531694475606434162007-05-17T15:41:00.000+09:002007-05-17T16:01:46.095+09:00

A friend, about 10 years older than I am, sent me a couple of long flashes with awful doo-wop music and the following quotes that were, I suppose, mean to elicit a geriatric shiver vaguely reminiscent of...what did we used to call that?...oh, yeah, orgasm.How many of these do you remember? Candy cigarettes Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside Soda pop

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-52561888987581669102007-02-15T21:42:00.000+09:002007-02-15T21:54:03.036+09:00

My former life, the one where I jumped around the world from place to place trying to make the next big agriculture deal, the one where I had a wife and kid somewhere who I would see from time to time, the life that was filled with potential but ended up with disaster, is gone.I make my living doing the little things now. Tech writing, odds and ends that somehow end up bringing in more money than

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1171442138397444772007-02-14T17:25:00.000+09:002007-02-14T17:35:38.413+09:00

Is it true that a gentleman always wears a t-shirt?Funny that. I hate wearing two shirts at the same time, unless the outer shirt is made of a particularly itchy Scottish wool (do they mix in wild boar hairs up there?) I mean, that's what sweaters are for. It wasn't until I spent a couple summers in Japan that I finally went against intuition and put on a second shirt on in 100 degree heat and

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1171441470863383222007-02-14T17:19:00.000+09:002007-02-14T17:24:30.863+09:00

I actually sat and watched CNN for the first time in ages. Larry King is still walking around, proving that the living dead do in fact exist, but that they are very polite and mostly harmless, if a little annoying.I am glad that I spent my morning watching CNN, as I am now fully informed about the most important event of the week - the mysterious death of Anna Nicole Smith. A group of very

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1171441143894956072007-02-14T17:17:00.000+09:002007-02-14T17:19:03.910+09:00

I am bedridden today. It is boring. So boring, in fact, that I have decided to return to blogging We'll see if this lasts past today.

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1150278778034943602006-06-14T18:51:00.000+09:002006-06-14T18:52:58.050+09:00

Yeah, I'm still here. So what the hell are you looking at?

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1120822374813626532005-07-08T20:10:00.000+09:002005-07-29T22:03:55.760+09:00

Food is not sex. It can be pretty good, but it is still not sex.So let's avoid the cliches.This article demonstrates everything that is wrong with American cuisine...well, not actually everything, there's a lot more, but this is a good place to start. Having read a bit more of the author's stuff, I can see he knows his food, which makes it all worse. What is with this self-abasement every time

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1119583343015744082005-06-24T12:22:00.000+09:002005-06-24T12:22:23.020+09:00

No bread, nor rice? How about a lettuce wrap burger? 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1119583303369482192005-06-24T12:21:00.000+09:002005-06-24T12:21:43.373+09:00

Shrimp asparagus, all kinds of good stuff between two toasted rice buns. 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1119583815850523322005-06-24T12:12:00.000+09:002005-06-24T12:32:13.380+09:00

Mustard chicken sandwich, topped with a spicy daikon radish salad. McDonald's, move that tired fat posterior over, MosBurger brings nouvelle cuisine to fast food. Mos, which is a name only the Japanese could love, stands for mountains, ocean, sun. Why? Don't ask. Japanese corporations are big on this mushy stuff - it takes people's minds off the bottom line, I guess.I am told that MosBurgers

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118926037685780632005-06-16T21:47:00.000+09:002005-06-16T21:47:17.690+09:00

How about a nice, dry stick for lunch? Or would you prefer it on a bun? 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118925219766527152005-06-16T21:28:00.000+09:002005-06-16T21:41:44.983+09:00

Monkey brains? Certainly!Dog stew? Why not?Bugs? Chow down!Burdock root?Are you out of your Japanese Imperialist Dog mind? We don't eat sticks!However.......if you really like the stuff, we'll be happy to grow it and sell it to you.And so the Chinese grow a crop they don't eat. Though, if history is any indication, they eventually will. Remember that great stringy Chinese broccoli that used to

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118924806282630962005-06-16T21:26:00.000+09:002005-06-16T21:26:46.286+09:00

Gobo salad? Hey...this isn't bad. 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118924756359171512005-06-16T21:25:00.000+09:002005-06-16T21:25:56.363+09:00

Fried Gobo? Pass the ketchup! 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118924527268322492005-06-16T21:22:00.000+09:002005-06-16T21:22:07.283+09:00

How'ja like to gnaw on this root, Tanaka-san? Please help yourself, otherwise we use it as roofing. 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118234120596070322005-06-08T21:35:00.000+09:002005-06-08T21:35:20.603+09:00

Pickles, Anyone? 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118146782213788492005-06-07T21:19:00.000+09:002005-06-07T21:19:42.216+09:00

Into the sugared vinegar (with wakame strips) 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118146712204078382005-06-07T21:18:00.000+09:002005-06-07T21:18:32.206+09:00

Cleaned and cut 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118146574894951222005-06-07T21:16:00.000+09:002005-06-07T21:16:14.896+09:00

Cutting and cleaning in a Japanese-sized sink 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118146536361201562005-06-07T21:15:00.000+09:002005-06-07T21:15:36.366+09:00

Rakkyou in the rough 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118146263650259382005-06-07T21:09:00.000+09:002005-06-07T21:11:03.653+09:00

Rakkyou is a member of the lily family, as are onion and garlic. The dictionary translates it as shallots, but they are a particular kind of very pungent shallot that the Japanese like to pickle. They are lovely with beer.Pickling is a bit involved, but the worst part of it all is actually cleaning and peeling the outer skin off the shallots. As I said, they are pungent, and it would be a good

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118140955288039052005-06-07T19:42:00.000+09:002005-06-07T19:42:35.290+09:00

In a pinch, you can use it to seal envelopes. 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1118141094328757602005-06-07T19:39:00.000+09:002005-06-07T19:44:54.330+09:00

I cannot get enough of Japanese mints. While they may have slowed a bit in the high-tech race, they are lightyears ahead of us in culinary arts, particularly breathmints. This is no surprise, giving Japanese sensitivities to smell. The picture shows Cool Shock mint film, already being copied by Listerine (wait a minute, I thought it was the Yanks who innovate ad the Japanese who copy??). It gives

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1117201405169693832005-05-27T22:41:00.000+09:002005-05-27T22:43:25.176+09:00

There are probably millions of villages in China, all wanting to somehow escape their poverty. Some of these villages are quite big. I recall hearing that there are over 800 towns in China with greater than 1 million population. Having been in many of these, it is no wonder that they are not considered cities. They are simply dusty small towns that go on, and on, and on. Beyond that are the

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1117191317519674502005-05-27T19:55:00.000+09:002005-05-27T19:55:17.530+09:00

Please buy our tomatoes, yankee dog 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1117015436152692112005-05-25T19:01:00.000+09:002005-05-25T19:03:56.156+09:00

We live in a bad part of the city for parking. And since any part of the city is bad for parking, that makes my neighborhood real bad. We have a small beach and a small fishing/yacht port on one side, no parking at all there. There's a forested hill park to the other side, no parking there. If my house were in the center of a pie graph, the actually slice of the pie with residences and, more

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1116421736828842302005-05-18T22:08:00.000+09:002005-05-18T22:08:56.830+09:00

Strawberry 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1116421808509271192005-05-18T22:00:00.000+09:002005-05-18T22:10:08.516+09:00

Friends of the TasteGuru have asked, why don't I write about sex? Everybody, they say, wants to read about sex. For food, they can turn anywhere. So, I will concede just a little. I will write about why I don't write about sex.I am too old.Haha! Just kidding. Nobody is too old to think about sex. It is one of the cruelties of the ageing process that our ability fades as our ardour remains pretty

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1116255988838506582005-05-17T00:06:00.000+09:002005-05-17T00:06:28.843+09:00

Morning at the market in Shandong 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1116255389454425572005-05-16T23:56:00.000+09:002005-05-16T23:56:29.460+09:00

Do we eat well in Beijing? Yes, we do. Even when slumming it. 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1116225245301286932005-05-16T15:32:00.000+09:002005-05-16T15:34:05.306+09:00

Before this blogs grows into some amorphous creature that belongs in an unattended vegetable drawer deep in the bowels of a forgotten fridge, I will start with a mission statement. To wit:FOOD SHOULD BE FUNIt should go without saying that I include alcohol and any other ingestible item that doesn't kill you. In fact, I will include a few that do kill, as long as the trip was worth it. A whole

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1116171206279225852005-05-16T00:16:00.000+09:002005-05-16T00:33:26.296+09:00

Canned Aussie wine a hit in Japan"By Michelle HespeSYDNEY — Suggest buying wine in a can to most people and they will baulk at the crudity of such an idea. However, talk to Barokes, the Australian winemakers responsible for launching and patenting wine in a can, and they will tell you change is in the air.They will also tell you that it is the Japanese, rather than Australians with their "

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1116149192056893382005-05-15T18:26:00.000+09:002005-05-15T18:26:32.083+09:00

American Cherries 100g 

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1116149226854251942005-05-15T18:07:00.000+09:002005-05-15T18:27:06.856+09:00

It's cherry time again. While some booms come and go, the Japanese are still fond of sampling the earliest harvest of the season. With US cherries, that honor goes to California. While there are some who say...aw, what the heck - I'll go out on a limb...I also say that cherries from the California desert pale in comparison to Northwest and Canadian cherries. However, they get a good month's head

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9688961.post-1115965178197565232005-05-13T14:47:00.000+09:002005-05-13T15:20:12.583+09:00

My favorite part of the city, Minato, the old fishing port, has been taken over....by fishermen. It is a part of the city appreciated mostly by weirdos like me, though weirdos with impeccable taste. The harbor has a small shipyard and a large bridge spanning it. At night, the reflections of the city in the calm water, and solitude of the waterfront make this one of the most romantic spots in town

Ghotihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10024560882878974739noreply@blogger.com0