Feb

In the Kitchen with OIC: A Fun Japanese Food Tour!

by Joyce McGreevy on February 2, 2021

Yuma Wada serves sushi in Tokyo, the setting for his Japanese food tour and trivia night. (Image © by Yuma Wada/ Ninja Food Tours)

What could be fresher than sushi made from Japan’s catch of the day?
© Yada Wama/ Ninja Food Tours

Yuma Wada Turns Trivia into Virtual Travel to Tokyo

A funny thing happened on the way to Yuma Wada’s Japanese food tour and trivia night. You know how it is. One minute you’re folding the laundry or microwaving leftovers. Next minute you’re at a fish market in Tokyo.

Maybe I should explain.

Collectively speaking, it was an ordinary weeknight, work had stolen our weekend, the kids were restless, and supper smelled . . . uninspiring. We’d all been “at home” nearly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for eleven long months.

We —me and several others from ages 9 to 65—needed a change of scene. Appetizing experiences and cultural insight. Creativity in good company. Something fun. (Remember fun?) And so, from coast to coast, country to country, we converged on Tokyo. Virtually, of course.

Shoppers stroll a scenic street in Tokyo, the setting for Yuma Wada’s online Japanese food tour and trivia night. (Image © by Yuma Wada/ Ninja Food Tours)

A much-missed travel pleasure: exploring dream destinations on foot.
© Yuma Wada/ Ninja Food Tours

“Honey? Just popping out to Japan. Back in an hour.”

There to greet us was Yuma Wada. Tokyo restaurateur, licensed sake sommelier, and self-trained sushi chef, Yuma is the founder of Ninja Food Tours.

“I grew up in a family that runs a traditional Japanese sweets factory, so food is something I cannot run away from,” he says.

While Yuma’s own journey started in Japan, he arrived at his calling by way of a background in corporate finance and extensive travels across Europe and the United States. He found other countries’ versions of Japanese food interesting—in a good way.

Sake is poured into a ceramic cup in Tokyo, the setting for Yuma Wada’s online Japanese food tour and trivia night. (Image © by Yuma Wada/ Ninja Food Tours)

“Nihonshu wa ryori wo erabanai.” Highly versatile, “sake never fights with food.”
© Yuma Wada/ Ninja Food Tours

Okay, there were occasional causes for bemusement. Like the “Japanese” restaurant in Wisconsin that served Korean and Thai food. Or the California bar that served “sake bombs,” shot glasses of sake tossed into beer, which was then knocked back for maximum ill effect. Not quite the Japanese custom of savoring a fine rice wine.

“When I saw that,” says Yuma diplomatically, “I was like, oh wow, this country is something different.”

Yet wherever he went (including Wisconsin), Yuma found that people loved Japanese food and were somewhat familiar with its variety. Wouldn’t it be exciting to extend their range and provide the cultural context?

Oh, Tokyo!

Yuma returned home with a whole new purpose. He founded a tour company and brought other passionate foodies onboard. Together, they created a rich banquet of local experiences—guided walks, cooking classes, online food shows, blogs detailing hidden gems, and more.

Wada Yuma samples Japanese food with fellow Ninja Food Tours tour guides in Tokyo, the setting for his Japanese food tour and trivia night. (Image © by Yuma Wada/ Ninja Food Tours)

Global locals: Yuma with fellow Ninjas Julia, Nathan, and Amanda.
Julia, un amante Giappone, (“fan of Japan”) grew up in Italy, Amanda in Quebec.
© Yuma Wada/ Ninja Food Tours

Three years later, Ninja Food Tours was garnering top-ten ratings in a city that welcomed 15 million visitors a year. Ninja Food Tours drew visitors from around the world to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Yuma’s work was being featured on CNN and other major news channels. Meanwhile, Japan had spent more than $25 billion on preparations for the Olympics.

Then the world went into lock-down.

So . . . No Tokyo?

Today, most of us can’t visit our local Japanese restaurants, let alone Japan. So Yuma has come up with a clever way to bring Japan to us—a simple but surprisingly rich hour of virtual travel. Presented as a trivia quiz, it’s also:

a quest for culinary inspiration
a family-friendly tour
a delightful way to socialize
a primer for in-person travel to Japan

Unlike a travel documentary, it offers plenty of interaction. Unlike a cooking class, there’s no prep needed. You’ll come away with a feast of insights into Japanese food, even if you already know your ikura from your izakaya.

Meet the New Chef—You!

The premise of the quiz is half the fun: You’re welcomed as a newly hired chef in Tokyo. As part of your culinary training, you tag along with a master chef who presents you with challenges. Together, you explore Japan’s biggest fish market, the city’s kitchenware capital, and more.

Ninja Food Tours tour guide Kaz displays a chef’s deba knife in Tokyo, the setting for Yuma Wada’s online Japanese food tour and trivia night. (Image © by Yuma Wada/ Ninja Food Tours)

Your master chef (portrayed by Ninja guide Kaz) shares cutting-edge culinary skills.
© Yuma Wada/ Ninja Food Tours

Now I can’t say too much, or I’d give away trivia-quiz answers. But what I can share is that the challenges are varied, creative, and instructive. The quiz is an icebreaker, fun to play with folks you know or folks you’ve just met. You can apply much of what you learn the next time you cook at home or order take-out.

Yuma Wada’s Sake Bar Doron is close to Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, in Tokyo, the setting for his online Japanese food tour and trivia night. (Image © by Yuma Wada/ Ninja Food Tours)

One of my first stops in Tokyo will be Yuma’s restaurant, Sake Bar Doron.
© Yuma Wada/ Ninja Food Tours

Memories of Travels Past Future

Given my thwarted plans to visit Japan in 2020, I was surprised at what I gleaned from this Japanese food tour—virtual travel, for sure. In addition to expanding my culinary skills, I got my questions answered on everything from etiquette and edible gardening to locally-beloved, less touristed neighborhoods. Oh, I see: I now have good memories of a place I’ve not yet been. And the happy prospect of saying, “Kon’nichiwa, Yuma! It’s so nice to see you again.”

Yuma Wada is beta-testing a new Japanese Food Trivia Night. Join FREE—until February 5. Register here.
Join all live events—Japanese Food Trivia Night, here; Sake Class, here; Kitchenware Shopping in Kappabashi, here.
Follow Ninja Food Tours on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Dining solo? Discover food-themed Japanese shows, here. (I love “Midnight Diner.”)

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 4 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Japan/The World's Chefs

Jan

SOS: Save Our Skeuomorphs!

by Joyce McGreevy on January 4, 2021

A smartphone on a sailboat contains a compass app, a skeuomorph that carries a cultural memory of an ancient invention, the nautical compass. (Photo by TheHilaryClark and Pixabay)

What smartphone app resembles a 12th century nautical tool? The answer’s due south!
TheHilaryClark/ Pixabay

Skeuomorphs “Net” Cultural Memory

As we sail into a new decade, a titanic debate continues to rock the boat from port to computer port. On one side, designers who’ve jettisoned skeuomorphs. On the other, those who are still on board with them.

Should skeuomorphs be set adrift? Or treasured because they’re anchored in cultural memory? What are skeuomorphs, anyway?

Someone holds up a digital tablet with a compass app, a skeuomorph that incorporates a cultural memory of an older compass. (Photo by TheHilaryClark and Pixabay)

Some designers dislike skeuomorphs’ ties to the past, as in this digital version
of a nautical compass.
Geralt/ Pixabay

Say, That Looks Familiar

Even if you’ve never heard of them, you know them. In computing, skeuomorphs are digital images that mimic older, physical objects. The nearest examples are probably on your cellphone:

a retro telephone handset (digital phone app)
a postage stamp (email program)
a manual camera with lens and shutter button (photo app)
a cassette tape, as invented in 1963 (audio-record app)
a 1970s style pocket calculator (faster, high-capacity calculator app)

I say “probably” because neoumorphists are working hand over fist to replace such apps.

“Neou-whatzits?” Neoumorphists. This group practices a design style that features minimalistic, one-dimensional flat shapes. Moreover, they prefer either solid colors or no color at all. In short, they create neuomorphs.

The term neuomorph is itself a kind of skeuomorph. It mimics the old word to convey the idea of the new word. Maybe that’s why some practitioners prefer the term “Flat Design.”

A Flat Design compass shows that, unlike skeuomorphs, neoumorphs preserve little cultural memory of the older, physical object. (Photo by Villareallevi)

Flat design took apps in a new direction.
Villarreallevi/ Pixabay

Skewing Away from Skeuomorphs

Why have flat-friendly designers given the heave-ho to skeuomorphs?

For starters, it’s been 35 years since Apple featured skeuomorphs on the first personal computer. Imagine seeing an icon of a floppy disk on the device that made floppies obsolete. So why was it there? Because it made something new look comfortably old and familiar.

Like the cassette tape, floppy disks were physical objects manually inserted into a computer for the purposes of saving information. By contrast, the new computer required no disk. Instead, it showed a picture of one to help you transition into saving info digitally.

At the time, that seemed bold. It was a shot across the bow of cantankerous word processors. (I called mine “Old Ironsides.”)

However, to a young digital native, someone who’d never encountered a physical floppy disk, the digital image became the more real of the two. It evoked, not an object, but only an action: “save.”

Meanwhile, a new wave of designers, considered skeuomorphs clunky, their purpose lost at sea. Skeuomorphs were scraping the bottom of the barrel, they said. And they were not about to pipe down.

Gradually, the skeuomorph trend hit the doldrums. Mainstream designers, certain they’d keel over if they had to develop one more fake trashcan, file folder, or bookcase, began abandoning ship. They changed course, bound for the uncharted waters of start-ups.

By 2012, there was no stemming the tide. To put it pictorially . . .

A speeding jet ski symbolizes how rapidly Flat Design apps, or neuoumorphs, overtook the popularity of skeuomorphs. (Photo by Herbert 2512 and Pixabay)

Flat Design went full steam ahead . . .
Herbert2512/ Pixabay

A man paddling a barrel in the water symbolizes how skeoumorph apps, with their cultural memory-based images of older physical objects, seemed clunky compared to Flat Design apps. (Image by Pxhere)

. . . leaving skeuomorphs in its wake and over a barrel.

Ships Shapes that Pass in the Night?

Skeuomorphs were dead in the water, declared “Flat” fans. Old as the (Silicon Valley) hills. Some even claimed that before the Mac, skeuomorphism could not have existed, since there was no graphical interface.

Now wait just one oh I see moment: While not all skeuomorphs endure, skeuomorphism is no passing fad. It’s freighted with centuries of cultural memory.

Going Old-Skeu

The term skeuomorph was coined in 1889 when a scholar combined two Greek words—skeuos, meaning vessel or tool, and morphê, meaning shape or form. Archaeologists applied the term to ancient artifacts that carried “memories” of even older objects. Classic examples include:

ancient clay pottery from Zaire molded to resemble the straw that was used in earlier, woven containers
ancient Greek stone buildings that preserved the functions of their wooden precursors

In short, skeuomorphs were never just digital. That urge to imitate, to preserve, to artfully smuggle something older into the hull of something newer, has always been with us.

An antique coffeepot features skeuomorphic elements that reflect the cultural memory of woven vessels. (Image by Auckland Museum)

Vintage skeuomorph, this antique coffeepot looks woven and has “tree branch” handles.
Auckland Museum, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Skeuomorphs Are Everywhere

Common household skeuomorphs include:

battery-operated or LED “candles”
window shutters that are purely decorative
shoes with ornamental buckles over functional Velcro fasteners
“wood-grain” laminate flooring

Lighting on a table includes skeoumorphic elements that preserve the cultural memory of older, physical objects, such as LED “candles” and a “wooden” plastic table. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

Unlike the wall, the “wooden” table is skeuomorphic. So are most of the “candles.”
© Joyce McGreevy

Skeuomorphism is roadworthy, too. For example, it includes:

Logos of horses on cars—visual reminders of “horsepower,” itself a verbal skeuomorph
The first trains and cars, modeled after horse-drawn carriages
Electric cars with front grilles. That’s utterly skeuomorphic. No internal combustion engine? No need for cooling air-intake!

Skeuomorphs go beyond the visual:

Taste: meatless burgers and tofu turkey
Texture: furniture in one material that imitates another material
Scent: air freshener imitating an “ocean breeze” or “lavender field”

Vintage cars feature skeoumorphic elements that preserve the cultural memory of horse-drawn carriages, such as wood paneled chassis and wheels with spokes. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

Cars with wood paneling and wheel spokes are . . .

Wagon wheels exemplify how skeuomorphic design embeds the cultural memory of older objects, such as wheel spokes, into newer objects, such as cars. (Image by British and Pixabay)

. . . skeuomorphic of old-fashioned wooden carriages.
Britlish/ Pixabay

Speaking of Skeuomorphs

There are, I think, echoes of skeuomorphism even in language. It’s in the way we knowingly or unknowingly imitate linguistic elements of the past.

That’s why, for the sake of experiment, I packed this post with vintage nautical terms, stem to stern. Did I go overboard? Aye, to prove a point: As old artifacts are “re-designed” for new users, the updated version retains vestiges of cultural memory. It’s as true of language as it is of technology.

So, even though you’re not an old-timey pirate, sea captain, boatswain, coxswain, rum smuggler, sea-shanty composer, or Viking explorer, every seaworthy idiom I used made sense to you. Like the digital native assigning new meaning to a graphical icon, you simply use it differently than its originators did.

That for me, is also the beauty of a skeuomorph. Be it digital or physical, visual or verbal, by intention or by-the-way, the best kind preserves cultural memory and takes on new meaning.

Don’t get me wrong. Flat Design has a vital role in language, too. If I need an ambulance, I’ll state my home address, not describe its architecture. I’m an idiom lover, not an idiot.

However, rather than choose one design style over another, I’ll navigate the best of each—the abstract and the pictorial, the streamlined and the layered. If neuomorphs make for plain sailing, skeuomorphs net cultural memory. Happily, there’s room onboard for both.

A smartphone screen whimsically depicting a 3-D figure navigating a body of water shows that apps like neoumorphs and skeuomorphs may one day only a cultural memory of old-school design. (Image by PixelLoverK3 and Pixabay)

What’s next in digital design? Wait and sea!
PixelLoverK3/ Pixabay

Did you spot all the nautical terms? Some are less obvious than others! Plumb their watery word depths, here and here.

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy Comments

Cultural Symbols/Language & Culture

Dec

In the Kitchen with OIC: Cooking with Spice!

by Joyce McGreevy on December 21, 2020

Nistha Trehun teaches an online class on cooking with spices, using Indian tradition as inspiration for any cuisine you like. (Image © by Nistha Trehun, The Kitty Party)

Live from Berlin, Nistha shares the art and science of spices with people around the world.
© Nistha Trehun, The Kitty Party

Nistha’s Top Ingredient: Indian Tradition

What’s in your spice collection? And how long has it been there? Even confident home chefs can feel intimidated when it comes to cooking with spices. Sure, we regularly summon familiar favorites into culinary action. But are they favorites because they’re familiar?

Meanwhile, turmeric, cardamom, fenugreek, and other spices may languish in a cupboard, their magic wasting away, if we’re not sure how to use them.

Cue Nistha to the rescue. The India-born, Berlin-based chef (whose name in Sanskrit means “trust”) helps people around the world spice things up—from everyday cooking and eating to their health and even how they learn.

Oh, I see: Inspired by the Indian tradition of cooking with spice, Nistha Trehun is on a mission to enhance our appreciation of food in general.

An array of spices shows why the Indian tradition of cooking with spices helps create a variety of tastes, flavors, and colors. (Image by Veganamente and Pixabay)

Beyond bottled lookalikes: Spices reflect a rich variety of form and function.
Veganamente/ Pixabay

Kitty in the Kitchen

As with many chefs, Nistha’s fascination with cooking began early. Growing up in northern India, she lived in a 20-room house with her extended family and a kitchen that offered the lively appeal and rich aromas of a restaurant.

“When I was really young, I used to tell my mom, ‘I want to cut onions,’ and she would give me a very small knife, not that sharp. I would have tears the whole time, but still I wanted to cut them.”

Despite her keen interest, “Kitty,” as her family called her, was mostly kept out of the kitchen, as were the other children. Why?

“In [my mom’s] generation, parents always wanted the girls to learn cooking. But while I was growing up times had changed, and for my parents, education became the only thing that mattered. So, I studied. A lot.”

Nistha’s discipline earned her a gold medal, graduation at the top of her class, and a degree in business administration.

“In my college, everybody would say, ‘I want to be an engineer or a doctor.’ And I was saying, ‘I want to open a culinary business and name it The Kitty Party.’”

Today, The Kitty Party is a flourishing, moveable feast that mirrors Nistha’s love of travel. She actually launched the business in South Korea when she and her husband transferred there for work. She quickly fell in love with Seoul. “I went walking every day and know every street in the city.”

A close-up of students in Nistha’s class shows how the Indian tradition of cooking with spices extends to desserts and pastries. (Image © by Nistha Trehun, The Kitty Party)

So Many Questions

As her in-person culinary events proved popular with locals and travelers alike, a common theme emerged.

“People had so many questions about spices! Because it was my first time out of India, that came as a surprise to me.” Until then, Nistha had assumed that everybody grew up with daily exposure to the traditions and techniques of cooking with spices.

For example, many people know cumin as a powder that they sprinkle, last minute, into Western adaptations of cross-cultural dishes. But in India, cumin is so much more—a virtuoso seed that produces numerous flavors depending on its origin and variety, and how it is stored, heated, crushed, milled, measured, and combined.

A supper dish beautifully presented shows the creative possibilities of cooking with spices using Indian tradition as inspiration. (Image © by Nistha Trehun, The Kitty Party)

“Combining spice with another ingredient builds dimensions of flavor that did not exist before.”
© Nistha Trehun, The Kitty Party

Nistha also discovered that she loved answering people’s questions. Combining scholarly drive with her passion for spices, she redoubled her research and experimentation and set out to share her mission: “To teach that whatever your style is, whatever your taste, you can still use spices in your own cooking. You do not need to cook Indian for that.”

Spices, she says, are something that everybody should eat, not because they’re Indian, but because they are healthy. And she enjoys dispelling misconceptions about spices, such as the notion that “spicy” always equals heat.

“People often assume that by spices, I mean chilies, but there are also many spices that help preserve the flavor of food.”

After Seoul, Nistha, her husband, and The Kitty Party, moved to their current home in Berlin. When the pandemic put customer foot traffic on pause, Nistha didn’t miss a beat. She simply moved the party online.

Nicknamed “The Dancing Chef,” she enlivens her online events with dance breaks and personal stories. Recently, she hosted a celebration of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, with students who logged on from Mexico.

Nistha sporting a vivid turmeric-colored shirt shows how cooking with spices based on Indian tradition also feeds her creativity. (Image © by Nistha Trehun, The Kitty Party)

“This is my turmeric shirt.” Nishta invites students to wear their favorite spice colors.
© Nistha Trehun, The Kitty Party

Worldwide Spice Advice? Nice!

This combination of cultural tradition, culinary insight, and sheer fun has made Nistha a top-rated presenter on Airbnb Online Experiences.

Her audience represents almost every continent. It includes couples and college students new to cooking, families enjoying togetherness across time zones, Fortune 500 employees engaged in team building, travelers from Brazil to Taiwan to Kuwait, professional chefs across Europe, and even a chef’s assistant from Antarctica.

Nistha’s events cover a wide range, too. Students can opt to cook a full meal, prepare traditional Indian beverages or desserts, or explore a single seasoning. Or, under Nistha’s guidance, they may combine spices they already have with foods so simple (bread, cucumber, a steamed vegetable) that anyone can easily participate.

Regardless of topic, unlocking the power of spice always takes center stage.

A turmeric latte garnished with star anise and edible flowers show why cooking with spices based on Indian tradition involves more than just adding a dash of powder. (Image © by Nistha Trehun, The Kitty Party)

“People are especially fascinated by turmeric, but often have no idea how to use it,” says Nistha.

She recalls the man who kept turmeric in his cupboard for 17 years because it seemed too precious to use. The woman whose friends believed turmeric pills and health drinks could substitute for foods. The people who bought chain-store lattes sprinkled with turmeric and were disappointed with the taste.

Nistha smiles. “You can’t just sprinkle on turmeric. It needs to be gently heated in good fat for a few seconds to release curcumin, a powerful anti-inflammatory. This also removes bitterness. In India, people call turmeric a ‘holy spice’ because it helps keep disease at bay.”

As for subbing supplements for food, Nistha wonders why anyone would deny themselves the social practice, celebration, and sensory experience of cooking and sharing a good meal.

“When we eat something, we are not just mechanically satisfying our nutritional need like an appliance charging its battery. We smell the aroma, see the colors, feel the textures, and most important of all we satisfy our tastebuds.”

A cook booklet, The Simple Spice Box Recipes, by Nistha Terun, sums up the art and science of cooking with spices based on Indian tradition. (Image © by Nistha Trehun, The Kitty Party)

Nistha also emphasizes that cooking with spice from the Indian subcontinent does not apply only to recipes based on Indian tradition. After all, she says, people who like olive oil don’t use it only for Italian food.

“I’m not here to teach you complicated menus. I want to teach the power of each ingredient.” What you cook, she says, can be as simple as a one-pot meal.

In short, any day’s the right day to spice up your life. Says Nistha, “We can’t afford to lose these small pleasures of life if we want to thrive as humans.”

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