I was reading an article by www.tokyofox.net about Japanese food in the UK. This paragraph jumped out to me and is the reason I try to be 'purist' with my menu and why I try my best NOT to do the fusion thing.
"I think it’s important to remember that all of the dishes mentioned thus far are British-Japanese fusion dishes and so not really Japanese food! Try telling that to anyone in Japan though! I’ve been told a few times by students how bad such dishes are but I really don’t know what they were expecting. Basically if you don’t think of any “Japanese food” in the UK as being authentic then it’s a lot easier to enjoy and accept it for what it is."
But... I WANT people to think my food IS authentically Japanese! I want them to feel they are getting a true idea of Japanese food or for it to bring back memories of their time in Japan. This was the whole point of Miniyaki's from the start, all those years ago when I was trying to show that Japan wasn't all about raw fish!
Yes it can be difficult to source the exact same ingredients that you would get in Japan and I do have to tweak some dishes based on what is available, but they will always be ingredients that the Japanese would use. There is, however, a big difference between 'swapping a Japanese sweet potato for a British one, or having to remove all visible fat to suit the British pallet'......and...... blatantly taking a classic Japanese dish and making it unrecognizable to Japanese people or just making it up!
Not only is this 'cultural appropriation' at it's worst but British people are thinking 'that' is Japanese and that frustrates me big time and is my biggest reason for not playing with fusion.
But...Fair play to those Japanese restaurants who deliberately call themselves 'fusion'. There is no confusion there and customers know they are getting anglicized Japanese food.
Where I live there aren't many Japanese people unfortunately. But I always seek validation when I have the rare Japanese customer, and I have had a lot of helpful tips over the year of 'insider knowledge of Japanese living in Britain' and I sincerely hope I am representing my 2nd home to the best of my abilities!
With this in mind, I will always welcome constructive criticism or advice from those that know true Japanese food......but if you ask me for chips.....you will be met with a stony glare or possibly a lecture on the above! BEWARE! hee hee!
