Sunday, February 12, 2006
All That Glitters
The Japanese seem to be fascinated with Olympic food. First McDonald's Japan introduced Torino-themed food such as cheesy potato balls and a chicken hamburger with tomato sauce. Now an Italian restaurant in Hokkaido, northern Japan has started selling a spaghetti (that makes it Italian) topped with a sauce containing pure gold flakes (that gives it an Olympic flavor). The idea is to show support for the nine athletes from the nearby Tokachi region competing at the Winter Games.
How noble. Each serving gets a sprinkling of about 0.1 grams of pure gold, and sells for 1600 yen (that's US $14 for you metric-challenged readers). Since gold is currently selling at roughly 10,000 yen per gram, that means each dish has 1000 yen worth of gold and only 600 yen of spaghetti.
By my calculations based on the cost of food over there, that works out to three strands of noodles, a teaspoon of tomato sauce, and since this is Japanese spaghetti, two slices of cucumber, five peas and a sprig of parsley. The chef, Naruto Azuma, worries that he will lose money if demand is too high. He just might have to cut down to three peas, and drop the parsley. Or he can buy a few pipe fittings from the hardware store and give each customer several shavings of bronze instead. That's what you get for not finishing first.
And here is this blog's contribution to our Olympic athletes:
Click on cartoon for bigger donuts
Comments:
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http://movingnorth.blogspot.com/2004_12_01_movingnorth_archive.html
A dozen new dog-related pictures. Enjoy!
A dozen new dog-related pictures. Enjoy!
Hank,
Yes. And it's all inside.
John,
The new Gold Rush is in Japan, not Alaska. And thanks for the Yukon Quest pictures and video. The dogs want to go.
Connecticut,
They usually have a dog. That would make it even funnier.
Redleaf,
I am serious. The Japanese put cucumbers, and corn, in everything. Sometimes seaweed too.
Mary,
It's hard to get fat when all you eat is gold and cucumbers.
Cal,
Did I hear you say you like doughnuts?
Post a Comment
Yes. And it's all inside.
John,
The new Gold Rush is in Japan, not Alaska. And thanks for the Yukon Quest pictures and video. The dogs want to go.
Connecticut,
They usually have a dog. That would make it even funnier.
Redleaf,
I am serious. The Japanese put cucumbers, and corn, in everything. Sometimes seaweed too.
Mary,
It's hard to get fat when all you eat is gold and cucumbers.
Cal,
Did I hear you say you like doughnuts?
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