The author had been back to Tokyo many times over the years , both on business and to visit her family, but when she was in Japan she usually stayed at hotels. However, at that time, author's parents insisted on she and her husband being with them, so she and her husband chose not to stay in a hotel. Thanks to this choice, Billy could encounter completely new, and healthy Japanese home-cooked food.
Before that trip, author and Billy relied heavily on takeout,frozen dinners, and eating out because author and Billy were too busy to cook dinner. For author, "COOKING" means buying prewashedb salad mix from a supermarket, putting in it a pretty bowl, and serving it with dressing.
But after that week at her parents' house, author and her husband started to prepare Japanese-style meals at home more and more. Her mother's dishes led them into more healthier. She said " The most surprising thing was that the more Japanese home cooking we ate, the lener, more energetic,and more productive we became, while at the same time feeling completely satisfied after every meal."
In this part, I could see Billy and author's change. Thanks to that, I could know how influence of Japanese home cooking are strong and wonderful.
To keep our health, we should cook what we eat by ourselves, I thought. Our daily lives have become more convenient and comfortable with the technological development, at the same time, our diet has been changed. But, to keep our health, we should cook what we eat by ourselves, I thought.
返信削除I thought that the most healthy food was the things cooked in their house. To eat out was not good for our health. So I try to go back home and cook dinner every day.
返信削除Since I entered university, I have often eaten outside. But it maybe bad for my body. I think it is very good thing for my body to eat Japanese foods which are made by my grandmother.
返信削除I want to eat her cuisines everyday!!
I agree with Minami and Yukari that "we should cook what we eat by ourselves." There are many advantages to doing that. First of all, we can know what the ingredients are in everything we prepare. When we eat at restaurants we're at the mercy of the chef (or the restaurant chain's policies) to get food that's healthy or full of chemical additives and preservatives. Right now I'm reading a book called "The American Way of Eating." It follows the experiences of a female American journalist who works at various restaurants in the US undercover. She finds out that the restaurant staff at some chain restaurants, such as Applebees," are taught almost nothing about food safety until restaurant inspectors come around. Also, she learns that almost none of the food is actually "cooked" at the restaurant; it's only "assembled." At big chains, like family restaurants or Izagaya, in Japan the same would apply.
返信削除Just as the author of the book Hitomi is reading found out, I feel that the average Japanese home cooked meal is far healthier than the average American home cooked meal. This is partly because Japanese cuisine features some staple foods that are highly processed but healthy. If you think about it, tofu, miso, and even ume boshi are very processed and far from food which is in its natural state, but they are healthy...especially when made without artificial additives.
Also, I think Japanese home cooked meals are more likely to have a healthy balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fat, whereas American food, whether it's home cooked or restaurant prepared, is likely to be high in fat (much of it saturated or in the form of cholesterol) and sugar.
An influential American doctor named John McDougall found that when the health of Japanese Americans living in Hawaii is looked at, the issei (first generation) who eat a traditional Japanese diet, are the healthiest. The nisei start to get fatter and somewhat less healthy. But, by the time the sansei (third generation) appear, they have all the same lifestyle diseases, and they're just as fat, as the average American.
Cheers,
Joseph D.