Sunday, March 6, 2011

Staple Foods 主食


One of the main things people I meet in Japan don't realize is how different our food culture is.  Most people assume that instead of rice we eat bread, and have it with every meal.  And kids are shocked that things like miso soup are hard to come by except in specialty stores in America.  The idea of staple foods has kind of faded from American culture.  Part of this is because of the variety of different cultures that joined together in America which brought staple foods like potatoes, corn, wheat, and rice together.  If there's anything I could say was a staple food for me it was sandwiches, my go-to food for lunch because of the huge variety of breads, cheeses, meats, and vegetables that are made sandwich ready at our grocery stores.

合った日本人のほとんどは食事の文化の違いはよく分からないことだ。よく思われていることはご飯の代わりにアメリカ人は主食でパンを食べることだが、本当ではない。子供らのショックは特別なアジア料理のスーパー以外味噌が買えないものだ。実は、主食があるという考え方はアメリカではだいたい消えてきた。理由の一部は色んな文化の人々(例えばとうもろこしやジャガイモや小麦や米の主食の文化)がアメリカに来て食事文化が交ざっている。自分ではサンドイッチが昼ご飯に主食のようによく食べていたが、本当の主食と言えないだろう。