Message from Shawn Iguchi

<< Seasonal information >>

Off from a usual political issue today.

It’s almost September.

In June, I talked about how different Japanese fruits were from the ones available in US.

There was another surprising episode I had living in US.

I would love to go to a supermarket when I was in US because I was fascinated by so many veggies fruits and foods that were unavailable in Japan.

Then it caught my eyes when checking out fruits. It said “Pear” It didn’t look like a pear to me because the one familiar to us was perfect round shape but this one was far different from round. It looked ugly. “What the hell is this?” I uttered while holding one in my hand. I’d never seen anything like that. It really caught my curiosity. And I bought several of them.

Back in my apartment, I immediately tried taste test. Although it looked ugly, I was expecting that it would at least taste like a pear I knew.

I took one bite and got confused. “What the hell is this?” Hahaha.

It wasn’t sweet or juicy. It didn’t have crunchiness of pear at all. I felt like eating a raw potato. Hahaha.

“Maybe, this one happens to be horrible. Others will be okay” I thought. So I tried another one. And it turned out to be the same. Then I tried another one. And it was the same. I was totally confused. “Are American people eating this?”

I had an American friend upstairs so I went over there and asked him “Do you guys eat this?” He said “Yes”. I said “Are you sure? It tastes really bad, like a food for pigs” He said “Oh, no we cook it. We simmer it with sugar and use it like an apple pie.” Then it rang a bell to me, people in US didn’t eat pears raw. It really made me surprised.

I always missed Japanese pear when I was in US. Then the other day, I was working at a French restaurant after school. And Mexican co-worker introduced me a very strange food to me. He said “Try it” It looked to be a raw white radish. He sprinkled them with lemon juices and salt. I tried one. It tasted good. A little bit of natural sweetness but there was unmistakable quality in it which was familiar to me. The crunchiness I enjoyed from eating Japanese pear was there. Not completely the same but close. I asked him what it was. And he said “Jicama” From that day on, I kept eating Jicama everyday. I really loved it. Jicama is high in fiber so you never experience constipation as long as eating Jicama everyday. Unfortunately Jicama isn’t available in Japan.

Anyway, If you ever have a chance to visit Japan in September and October, you should try “Nijisseiki” (Japanese pear).  Have a nice day!

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