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From Ethnic to Hip: Circuits of Japanese Cuisine in Europe

2005; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 13; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/07409710590931294

1542-3484

Katarzyna J. Cwiertka,

Financial Crisis of the 21st Century

During the last decade, Japanese cuisine has become rooted in Europe. The once unusual-sounding dishes, such as SUSHI, TEPPANYAKI, and TEMPURA, are now familiar to millions of Europeans. They not only merely encounter these names in popular magazines and cooking shows on television, but also a growing number of people in Europe actually consume these dishes on a regular basis, at lunch corners and business receptions, restaurants and bars, and even in their own homes. This article describes the historical development of the establishments serving Japanese cuisine in Europe, with particular focus on Great Britain and the Netherlands. It seeks to highlight the variety of historical and global connections that contributed to the spread of Japanese food in Europe. Furthermore, it demonstrates the diversification of the image of Japanese food in Europe during the last decade, from an exotic, ethnic fare, through a fashionable style of dining, to a health-conscious fast food. Many classic restaurants continue to provide Japanese expatriates with the taste of home and offer Europeans a clichéd "taste of Japan," represented by waitresses dressed in kimono and interiors featuring lampions, bonsai plants, and calligraphy. Concurrently, however, newer establishments that serve particular types of Japanese food, such as beef from the griddle (TEPPANYAKI), SUSHI, and noodles, have mushroomed, grounding themselves as major genres in European dining. These and other establishments offer an ever-widening choice of culinary variations on the Japanese theme. Notes 1. In 1999, there were 320 restaurant classified as Japanese in Germany, 350 in France, and 170 in the U.K. (Personal Communication, Kikkoman Trading Europe, June 2001). 2. Although not comprehensive, the following database provides a general idea about the spread of Japanese restaurants in Europe ⟨http://www.sushi.infogate.de⟩ 3. In order to illustrate this point, I listed below a selection of Japanese cookbooks that were published in different European countries in the year 2003: In Dutch: Sushi (Spectrum), Sushi & Sashimi (Rebo Productions); In English: The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen: Inspired New Tastes (Kodansha Europe), Classic Japanese: Over 90 Simple and Stylish Recipes (Southwater), The Japanese Kitchen: A Cook's Guide to Japanese Ingredients (Southwater), Japanese Homestyle Cooking (Tuttle Publishing); In French: 100 Recettes de cuisine japonaise (Grancher), Sushi (Solar); In German: Sushi. Über 70 unwiderstehliche Rezepte aus Japan (K. Müller Vlg), Kreativ kochen. Sushi und Sashimi (Nebel Verlag); In Italian: La cucina giapponese. Tradizioni e stagioni (Demetra), Sushi & Sashimi (Logos), Sushi. Ricette dal mondo (Idea Libri), Sushi. Sapori e ricette (Electa Mondadori); In Polish: Kuchnia Japonska (AWM), Sushi i Sashimi (Elipsa); Following the success of the English edition, Emi Kazuko's Easy Sushi (Ryland Peters and Small 2000), the book appeared in Danish, Dutch, German, Finish, Polish, Spanish, and Swedish. 4. Although aware of the fact that the use of the term 'ethnic' is inherently problematic, I choose not to take up this issue in this article. 5. See Klug 1995, Bestor 2000 and 2004. A number of popular articles on the topic appeared in magazines introducing Japan (i.e. CitationTakahashi 2000a and Citation2000b, Tamamura and Petersen 2000, Cwiertka 2001, and Ota 2001), and culinary writing on the Internet regularly deals with the topic (i.e. CitationBroe 1999, CitationGoff 1999, CitationCrockett 2000). Japanese studies on the subject remain scarce, though not non-existent (i.e. Ishige et al. 1985, CitationMori 2000, CitationTamamura 2000). 6. The bulk of fieldwork for this article was conducted between 1999 and 2002 as part of the larger project "Model of Global Japan and Globalization" coordinated by Harumi Befu and sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education (grant no: 10041094). 7. Japanese names are presented throughout this paper in their original order—family name first. 8. For more information on Ōshima, the Yamazato Restaurant, and cuisine served there, see Oshima, Faas, and Cwiertka 2003. 9. See section 2 for the detailed information on the teppanyaki-style. 10. The Michelin Red Guide is the leading selection for hotels and restaurants in Europe. It is particularly well known for its prestigious star award system for evaluating the quality of the cooking of listed establishments. The guide awards restaurants between one and three stars, and they are coveted. Getting one or one more can create a legend; losing one can result in significant heartbreak. In 2002, the Netherlands counted 54 restaurants with one star, seven with two, and one with three. 11. The restaurant Aska, for example, situated at the outskirts of Amsterdam, was run for sixteen years (1987–2003) by the Japanese trading company Shōwa Bōeki—at the time of the opening the leading exporter of fake crab (surimi) to the Netherlands. Setting up the restaurant was a method to follow directly the Japanese food boom in Europe that allowed the company to adjust precisely its export strategies to the growing market (Personal Communication, Aska Management, June 2000). In Germany, Kikkoman-Daitokai-Europe Limited—a daughter company of Kikkoman Corporation, a leading Japanese soy sauce producer—established a chain of teppanyaki restaurants Daitokai, now managed together with JFC International and Pacific Trading Inc. The first venue was opened in Düsseldorf in 1973, soon followed by Munich, Cologne, and Berlin (Personal Communication, Kikkoman Trading Europe, June 2001. See also www.daitokai.de). 12. The Japanese presence in Eastern Europe was extremely limited. Japanese restaurants began to emerge there only after the political and economic liberalization of the 1990s. The first Japanese restaurant in Warsaw, for example, was established by a graduate of the Japanese Studies Department of Warsaw University who earned the living as a free-lancing interpreter. The trend took on in a swift tempo. In 2001, Moscow counted approximately eighty Japanese restaurants, while many bars and disco's served sushi (Personal Communication, Kikkoman Trading Europe, June 2001). 13. This statement is based on interviews with the owners of several Japanese restaurants in the Netherlands. 14. As of January 2004, the company owned 55 and franchised 18 chain stores in the United States (http://www.benihana.com/investor_relations.asp). 15. The Misono legend, and the connection between teppanyaki and the American military, is still utilized in business. For example, although unrelated to the original, Kobe Misono Restaurant was opened in 1979 in San Diego, California. The city is known as the base of 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). Although this squadron is a post-war creation, the 11th Airborne Division was the first American military unit to land in Japan in 1945, and in the following years was responsible for occupying a considerable part of the country. 16. I am aware of the complex implications of the use of the term 'authentic' (CitationHeldke 2003: 23–44). In this article, I will refer to it in the sense of 'prepared the way it would be in its culture of origin—using the same methods and the same ingredients insiders would, substituting only when absolutely necessary, and then only if the substitution does not radically alter the original food' (CitationHeldke 2003: 29). 17. Benihana's only site in Japan is situated in the heart of the capital, the Nihonbashi area. Other renowned teppanyaki establishments in Tokyo include Mon Cher Ton Ton and Seryna in Roppongi, Ark Hills Club in Akasaka, and Kamon located in the Imperial Hotel. 18. As of 1999, for instance, Western Europe counted 1400 Japanese restaurants, of which most were teppanyaki-style restaurants (Personal communication, Kikkoman Trading Europe, June 2001). 19. For more information on "rotary sushi" see Bestor 2004: 161–163. Bestor's book provides an excellent background for the understanding of the culture and economics of sushi in Japan. 20. As of 2004, Moshi Moshi operates four bars in London and one in Brighton. 21. Noto is another establishment in London that successfully expands from the traditional to new business formulas. Along with party catering and sushi counter at Harrods, Noto operates three take-away points, a restaurant, kaitenzushi bar and a noodle shop. (see also www.noto.co.uk) 22. A management buy-out of the company took place in September 2003 (see http://www.caterer-online.com/facts/companydetail.asp?lSiteSectionID=19&companyID=20 and http://www.pinsents.com/press/press/pryosushi.aspx). 23. A characteristic feature of European kaitenzushi bars is the fact that other Japanese dishes, such as tempura (various foodstuffs deep-fried in batter), buckwheat noodles (soba) etc., are rotating on the conveyor belt along with sushi. This was not the case in the original rotating bars that served exclusively sushi. 24. The latter is business-like (www.sushitime.nl), as opposed to the trendy and playful character of the former (www.zushi.nl). Internet is a favorite advertising medium of the trendy Japanese restaurants in the Netherlands and in Great Britain. See www.moshimoshi.co.uk, www.itsu.co.uk, www.wagamama.com, and www.yosushi.com. 25. For example, the popularity of sushi overshadowed teppanyaki. 26. A common way of providing food commercially, before the restaurants became ubiquitous. All the dishes were placed on a single large table at one set time, and customers paid a flat sum per head, no matter how much food they ate. 27. See also Heldke 2003. 28. Their role is comparable to the way Japanese-Americans supported the Japanese business expansion in the United States. They were the first to buy Japanese products in the 1960s, when the prevailing view of Japanese goods was still that they were cheap and of poor quality (CitationBefu 2000: 30). 29. The case of Sushi Time's founder, Vincent Langendorff, and a British sushi chef Lindsey are telling instances. Vincent first worked at Hotel Okura Amsterdam, then moved to Singapore where he encountered the Japanese chain Genki Sushi, and finally ended up establishing Sushi Time in Amsterdam's WTC. Lindsey learned to cook Japanese-style from Chikako Cameron, the Japanese owner of a conventional Japanese restaurant in Cardiff, Great Britain. Chikako herself acquired her entrepreneurial skills at one of Benihana's outlets in the United States. In 1996, Lindsey began working at Take-ya at the outskirts of Amsterdam, training Dutch apprentices in the art of sushi making.