fishy parcel

Today I received a parcel from my mum in Japan. There were a few things I couldn't bring back because of luggage weight limit. In the parcel there were essential ingredients for Japanese food; shavings of dry fishes. You might have already known that we make the soup stock 'dashi' from seaweed and dry fishes. (And it is very difficult to be a vegetarian in Japan as we use dashi in almost every dish.) To make it we either leave seaweed/fish in water or boil it. And there are so many preferences in which fish to use and how to make it (and which water to use!) depending on the dish and the cook.

Also in the parcel there was a book when my father had a talk with a superb chef. They were talking about the attitude to eating which is deeply related to the life itself and I'm very happy to have it here. I like to read it again and again to get what they are saying.

Today I watched the news about Jamie Oliver's campaign to school dinner is proving to be working. And I hope it spreads more as I think it is important and spending more money on healthier food is cutting the cost in long term. And I think whoever American said things such as they use medicine to solve diabetes related illness is so lazy. And it costs more for them to tackle the problem.

We say eating and healing has the same root. (But I'm not sure if it's quite the right translation. It means if you eat healthy you don't really need a doctor. The idea originates in China.)

今日は母親から荷物が届きました。持って帰れなかったものと食材が入っていました。ちょうど鰹節が切れたので頼んだのですが、それと同時にさばとむろあじの削り節、根こんぶなど出汁とりバリエーションセットを重量内に収めて送ってくれました。

一緒に箱の中には父が伊勢志摩観光ホテルの総料理長だった高橋忠之氏と対談をした時の冊子が入っていて、食について自然観について話しているのを読みました。父が考えていたことに触れることができて、嬉しかったです。

今日はニュースから、Jamie Oliverの学校食改善の運動の前と後では成績に変化が出たことを知りました。ちゃんと食べることはやっぱり生活の基礎だと思うので、彼の運動がもっと広がるといいなと思います。数日前にアメリカのインタビュー番組の司会者が、彼の運動に対して、アメリカ人はやせ薬で肥満と闘う的なコメントをしたそうです。悪質な食生活（と食産業）をのさばせる上に、薬代もかかるという悪循環的な考えを持つアメリカ人が少しでも減るといいなと思います。

日本には「医食同源」という言葉があって、潜在的にちゃんと食べよう（食べたい）という気持ちがあるのは、本当にいいことだと思います。