600 sausages (to the tune of aphex twin)

Japanese people tend not to eat in public. It’s generally considered inappropriate to chow down on the street or on public transport — unless you’re crowded around a Harajuku crepe stand, in which case, it’s not a problem.

This is why I was rather impressed to discover JJ O’Donoghue’s 600 Sausages, a four-minute ode to the mighty frankfurter at Kyobashi station in Osaka. Every day, thousands of commuters pass through the station, 600 of whom stop off for a 110-yen sausage.

From weary salarymen to construction workers, old men to hungry schoolboys, right through to tourists and lone women, these passengers all take the time to break Japanese norms and enjoy a sausage on a stick before boarding their next train. It’s rather hypnotic, particularly due to the inspired use of the Bad Plus’ stripped down cover of Aphex Twin’s Film.

Enjoy, noting the lack of condiments yet overall satisfaction (particularly on the face of the man at 1.48):

via Jap-On!, crepe photos from Josefe aka Hipnosapo and Corporate Monkey.

When is japanese food not japanese food?

When an international star like Jared Leto blogs about it.

Not too long ago, 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Leto was in town and raved online about  ‘Great Japanese food in London’ – only to post the above picture of Yauatcha, one of London’s finest dim sum emporiums.

And I know, I know, he’s a big film rock star who may not grasp the delicate intricacies that distinguish Chinese from Japanese cuisines, but still… this cross-cultural confusion made me lose all faith in the man. (Even more so than his choice of film roles/women/wacky hairstyles of late).

In Leto’s honour, I present some recent examples of sushi art, just to prove that Japanese food can take different guises (none of which look like dim sum, though):

Exhibit A: Brownie ‘nori roll’ cupcakes and Rice Krispies/Bubbles with Swedish Fish. These amazing sweet sushi creations come from Saucy, a Canadian blogger/supermum who tends to refer to herself in the third person. (It’s fine though, as her talent for re-imagining sushi through sugary sweets is worth the occasional little idiosyncrasy).

Exhibits B & C: Neither of which I would like looking back at me.

So am I just being pedantic, or does someone need to give Jared Leto a culinary education? If he wants to start at Yauatcha, I’ll quite happily volunteer.

<Sushi sweets from Saucy via Paper-, platter from ulteriorepicure>

Happy birthday, holy father

Pope Benedict XVI turned 83 on Friday, and despite the Vatican not officially recognising papal birthdays, a US fundraising group managed to rustle up some white chocolate and strawberries for a birthday cake.

The Papal Foundation even sang him Happy Birthday in English after presenting him with the modest ‘Happy Birthday Holy Father’ cake (above), which seems to reflect how feelings toward the Pope have changed since he took over in May 2005.

On his first birthday in office in 2006, for instance, the youth of Opus Dei gave him a chocolate piano cake. Not a bad effort for kids who are going to grow up to realise they’re committed to celibacy, penance and corporal mortification.

Then in 2007, a group of proud chefs took papal birthday cakes to a whole new level with the St Peter’s Cake, below. (It was his 80th, after all).

The following year the Pope partied at the White House, where George Bush presented him with a four-tiered masterpiece, below, which looks like it was destined for an upper-crust DC wedding until someone told Dubya that the Pope was in town. Judging by the Pope’s face, though, he didn’t seem to mind.

Sure, the guy’s got more pressing issues on his mind than birthday cakes (such as dealing with the ‘wounded sinner’ that is the Catholic church), but it’s quite clear that 2010’s offering was pretty disappointing. They didn’t even cut the stems from the strawberries!

On a different note, did you know the Pope’s an accomplished pianist? He’s generally into the classics, except for this short lesson below:

All photos from AP via the Huffpost.

Pasta with black people. i mean pepper.

Last week Penguin Group Australia reprinted 7,000 copies of the Pasta Bible following an AUD$20,000 typo.

According to The Age, a recipe for spelt tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto* called for salt and freshly ground black people, rather than the intended salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Head of publishing, Bob Sessions, could not understand why anyone would be offended by such a slip. He said almost every recipe called for ground black pepper, not black people, which occurred only once:

…[a] misprint occurs which obviously came from a spellchecker. When it comes to the proofreader, of course they should have picked it up, but proofreading a cookbook is an extremely difficult task. I find that quite forgivable.

Sessions does not specify if the spellchecker was human or computerised. I’m guessing computerised (with added human error), which led me to the following experiment…

Using Microsoft Word, and giving the author/layout person the benefit of the doubt that they are not a cannibalistic racist, I assumed they intended to type pepper. I typed variations of the word black pepper, to see just what it took for my spellchecker to throw back black people:

1. Peoper: pepper, proper, pauper, popper, paper. Note pepper out in front.
2. Pepoer: pepper, peppier, paper, piper, popover. Again, no people in sight.

And then, assuming the typist was thinking about actual people, but just couldn’t spell it right:

1. Pepple: people, pepper, popped. Interesting.
2. Peopel: people, propel. Hmmm…

It seems there is a pattern to my spellchecker. Try typing pepper, and you get pepper, without a person in sight.

Try typing people, and you get people. Sometimes, pepper.

Back to Mr Sessions though, who continued his indignant rant to explain Penguin would not recall the cookbook due to the fact it would be extremely hard to do so:

We’ve said to bookstores that if anyone is small-minded enough to complain about this … silly mistake, we will happily replace [the book] for them.

Who is this guy? While it’s refreshing to read such honest ignorance, I find it offensive that one of the world’s major publishing houses can’t find a proofreader who can handle a cookbook. Sessions, of all people, should know the many steps a manuscript goes through during production, and just how many eyes would go over every page before it goes to print. Even once it’s printed, Penguin should have someone doing final quality checks before the book is distributed nationwide and sold for $20 a pop.

So call me small-minded, but I cannot accept a major publisher making such a small mistake,  blaming the spellchecker, then worst of all, refusing to understand how anyone could find it offensive.

And that’s without even touching on the fact that the recipe calls for freshly ground black people.

*Spelt! Bloody hippies.

Surprisingly fitting black pepper picture from Hodgers. 

When in russia – hold the herring

Tinned tuna ain’t good. Some species are critically endangered and the amount of by-catch (including turtles, sharks & dolphins) can be horrendous. Greenpeace has compiled a ‘league table’ of different brands, ranking them in terms of their fishing methods, labelling and general policy. (Note John West flailing at the bottom).

On the other hand, as unsustainable as tinned tuna may be, just be thankful it’s not herring. While we’re making ‘tunafish’ sandwiches with a side of green guilt, our comrades in Russia have to deal with the following:

More disturbing photos at English Russia, verity yet to be determined.

How to look good (& eat well) in space

Know how hard it is to find stylish clothes for work? Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki certainly does.

In order to look her best on her 13-day mission to the International Space Centre, Yamazaki commissioned Tae Ashida to design her a new work outfit.  Like all good fashion, Ashida’s look (below left) reflects earlier designs (right), only with more detail and less fabric.

There’s a chance Yamazaki may have been keen to save space in her suitcase, as she also packed a miniature koto (Japanese harp). My favourite tweeter Astro_Soichi has a traditional flute up there, so I’m guessing they’re planning some sort of intergalactic Japanese jam.

With ramen, no doubt, as Astro_Soichi was instrumental in testing the original zero-gravity ramen back in 2005 when he was preparing for a US Spaceship Discovery flight. Space Ram, as it’s called, has thick soup and noodle balls that can be eaten straight from the pouch (without needing a straw like most astro food). The astro ramen comes in four flavours – soy sauce, miso, curry and tonkotsu (pork broth), which is more than most UK supermarket have on offer.

These astronaut/designer and astronaut/noodle collaborations highlight how things have progressed since the early days of space exploration. According to the website for Space Food Sticks (remember them?), a 1960s headline sums it up best: 

Space Food Hideous - But it Costs a Lot.

Judging by the picture at the top, at least they had the fashion sorted.

**More Tae Ashida at Japan Fashion Week.

Sin in Space cover from Jbergen, Ashida design from AFP, ramen (not actual space ram as the pouch looks pretty nasty) from Rakka & awesome Kool-Aid shot from xraydelta.