The Wholesale Dream

So one of the problems with living in Japan, is the chronic lack of choice when visiting supermarkets and whatnot.

In moderately sized supermarkets you might get a couple of choices for each of the staples, then beyond that you're unlikely to find exotics like lasagna, or cheeses beside cheddar.

(Obviously nowhere has marmite.)

But a leaflet came in the post the other day (apparently they do work) advertising a local wholesaler.  Normally you'd need a business to be allowed entry, but those living within a certain radius are allowed in on Saturdays.

So we went down and had a look around.  The prices were at least as good as the cheapest local supermarket, with some stuff like meats being quite a lot cheaper.  Frozen food ended up being up to 30% cheaper, which is good.

But prices aside, this place was great for two reasons.  You can buy 5kg bags of pasta.  It cost about 7 quid, so we bought one of those.

The other thing was variety.

I always assumed there was never any variety in Japanese supermarkets because there was no local demand, but this place had at least 15 different types of cheese.  If no one is buying it, why is it there?  Clearly someone wants it.

It's still fairly expensive, but you can also buy these cheeses in 1kg+ bags.  Amazing.  That's at least a weekends worth.  We didn't buy any of these this time around though, maybe next time.

There were breaded chicken breasts, pies, gravy's, waffles - all things you'd never see within 500 miles of a normal supermarket.  If I can find a chicken kevin, oven chips, a whole chicken or a steak and ale pie, I'll be set for the next 10 years at least.  I'm not a complicated person!

Some of the other highlights were 20kg bags of flour, kegs and legs of ham.

Unfortunately, no pictures allowed, but imagine willy wonkers factory with more pallets and forklifts.

Foooooooooooooooooooooood

So it's no secret that food is a big problem for me in Japan.  There are a thousand different types of fish (none of which are predicted to be available in 10 years due to over-fishing) and a thousand different types of rice (who knew there was more than one kind of rice?) but very little in the way of marmite.  There isn't even the option for one kind of marmite, the bog standard marmite in a jar.  Marmite chocolate is fine in a pinch (that pinch being a three month wait for it to be shipped over), but, realistically speaking, nothing is going to take over the crown of the original.  Marmite crisps are something to be avoided.

So we know how things are from an English in Japan perspective; how about the reverse?

In Japan they have all the fish and all the rice, but they also have interesting takes on well known western classics.  If you're a macdonalds person who has ever been on the internet you probably know about the teriyaki chicken burgers.  They're just fried chicken sandwiches with a teriyaki sauce, so nothing mind-blowing.  Unless you've never tried teriyaki, in which case I suggest you go out and find something adorned with said sauce.  You might like it if you like tangy things, but aside from that I can't really tell you what it's comparable to and whether you should avoid it or not.

I am bad at this.

There are also the chocolates, something I am much more familiar with.  The venerable kitkat has made its way here, only to fall over and get covered in green tea.  It's bright green and tastes quite peculiar.  It doesn't really taste like green tea (who would have guessed that a chocolate company pouring chemical formulations into their chocolate would end up with something that doesn't taste anything like the flavour written on the label, shocking!) but it doesn't really taste chocolatey either, so I'm not entirely sure who this is aimed at.

Locals who have never eaten chocolate or drunk green tea?  Good luck finding that person.

There are also seasonal varieties here.  They love the fact that they have four seasons (for some reason that I have yet to figure out, all Japanese people think that Japan is the only country in the world with four seasons, even though they only have three - hot, cold, rainy) and utilise that for some insidious marketing.  In Summer everything is watermelon flavoured.  In rainy, everything is cherry blossom flavoured.  In Winter everything is back to normal, but with a christmas tree on the cover.

One thing I've also noticed is that apples come around this time of year, apparently from up north (Hokkaido) and they're great.  Super sweet, super juicy and enormous.

Artists impression of various apples.  Big ones - Japanese Winter apples.  Small ones, stupid English apples.

The only problem is, and I say this with all the affection for quirky Japanese customs, rituals and superstitions in the world, they are terrible at eating them.  The worst.

They get a knife, peel the apple, then cut it into equally sized slices, then serve them on a plate.

Everyone does this.  Monsters.

It's a fucking apple!  Just eat the damned thing!  Run it under a tap to get all the nitrates, pesticides and carbon nanotubes off the skin, then eat the fucking thing.  Christ almighty.  I could have washed, eaten and thrown away three apples in the time it takes to peel one.  By the time you're done the thing is brown anyway.  What on earth.

Anyway, apples aside, there are a million variations of normal western food out here, I just wonder how long it's going to take someone to make a sushi stuffed Christmas turkey, like a turducken, only with wasabi.

Oh, wasabi.  You should definitely buy some if you have never tried it.  It's possibly the most revelatory food experience I've had since I've been here.  It's part tastebud destroyer (like the worlds strongest mustard), part decongestant.  It's excellent with almost anything you'd use mustard for, I'm told (I don't eat mustard, mustard is disgusting) and obviously great with sushi.  I've also been known to just sit down in front of the youtube with a tube (of mustard), and slowly work my way through it, instead of going to the corner shop and buying some horrendous slop as a snack.

It's probably given me, or is going to give me, seventy bajillion ulcers because that stuff is basically caustic, but damn if it doesn't get the pipes clear.

Try it out some time.

I Feel For You, Denmark

The worst news ever given to a Danish person, wasn't just confined to an individual.  It appears the entire country will receive devastating information soon.

It amuses me that the Danes, Swedes and Fins compete for the most disgusting use of fish - namely in national 'delicacies.'  Pickled herring being the most benign of these national dishes is indicative of their desire for strong tastes.  To my mind, there are few stronger (or more delicious) tastes than Marmite.  It's a shame the scandinavians are denying themselves the most nutritious of polarising tastes (how many vitamins can be found in a rotting trout, for example) and, while I don't necessarily agree with post-process additions of vitamins/minerals (I'm currently drinking Japanese milk that is nearly solid, due to the iron, calcium and assorted vitamins they add) I'm sure the taste of Marmite is more than partly due to these additions.  Lick an iron bar, for example, and you will find it has a distinctive taste.  Just because Vitamin B12 bars are only to be found in secret government bunkers, does not mean they are devoid of unique tastes too.  (I use iron bars as an example because, like me, I assume everyone has licked one at some stage.)

So I urge this: 'outraged expats in the country are already threatening a campaign of civil disobedience,' to happen.  Or I could, you know, sell you some at a markup.  How does that sound, expats of Denmark.