In the subway here in Tokyo today, I saw the following advertisement for Kirin Beer. Now... since I'm not a beer drinker and know nothing about it, I cannot attest to the veracity of this promotion, but it talks about how Kirin beer is the perfect compliment to the special foods from all 47 of Japan's "prefectures" (counties).But the ad got me thinking: do we have THAT level of regionalization of food back home? Japan's area is nearly 146,000 square miles and Japan has 47 prefectures. Close in size to that is California, with 164,000 square miles and 58 counties. The amazing difference is population density: 873 per square mile versus 234 per square mile. But I digress... in Japan, each of the 47 prefectures is known for a particular food. Could that be said of California's 58 counties? I would venture to say that that's not quite the case. Of course, when I think of California, now living in Idaho, I just think, In-N-Out Burgers.
Speaking of Idaho... my adopted home state occupies nearly 84,000 square miles, has 44 counties, and has a population density of just 15.6 people per square mile. I LOVE IT!!! But regionalization of food across the 44 counties? I'm not sure there are that many varieties of potatoes..... :-)
1 comment:
Maybe not regionalization of food but how about 44 different ways to fix a potato? Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, hash browns, french fries, creamed potatoes, potato salad. That's six...only 38 to go. Oh yeah, potato soup. Only 37 to go... (help me here, people, i'm drowning)
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