Turkey Dinner.

This update is late in coming but details an interesting dinner I had with friends, Hosono-sensei and Kuguchi-sensei. Hosono-sensei was under the impression I was underfed and craving turkey; neither of which is exactly true nor deniable on my part so I happily went out for dinner Friday night. We had to travel all the way too Shihoro (one town over from Shikaoi) to a restaurant that specialized in turkey dishes. Shihoro’s claim to fame, by the way, is that it is home to a giant Calabee potato chip factory. This is not so surprising in light of the number of potatoes they pull out of the ground here every year.

The meal was impressive and memorable because it focused on Japanese style cooking; there was no opportunity for mash potatoes, dressing or seconds at the meal. The meal was served in several small healthily courses all centered on the theme ingredient. Turkey sukiyaki, turkey karage, turkey yakitori, turkey soup, turkey sausage. Of course, one can never really go wrong with fried turkey but there was one course gave me pause; raw turkey sashimi. Even though I was assured by the proprietor it was of the highest quality, there are many more taboos I will break before eating raw turkey (or chicken). A strange reaction I know—as was an ethereal conversation that followed about what type of fish sashimi it resembled—but the thought of eating it makes me turn green.

Hokkaido is renown for its bountiful agricultural produce and I was surprised to learn the turkey used was from Honshu and China. In a common story from Hokkaido, all of the highest quality goods are sent to Tokyo to be used in restaurants there leaving the rest of the country to use imports—abet high quality imports. It is as if Tokyo is some sort of luxury high-end black hole.