Japan has been weighing on my mind lately for obvious reasons.  So why not write about Japan in Part Two of this series of posts?

Before I go there, I have to confess.  After writing the first post of this series, my wife asked me, “What about my cooking?  Don’t I rate in your memories of great meals?”  To which I replied, “Of course, honey.  But I was writing about travel and food.”  Being the clueless male that I am, little did I realize that I screwed up.  So, let the record state that my wife is indeed an accomplished and passionate cook.  Many of the best meals I have had were prepared by her.

On to the travel bit.

Unlike travels in North America where I can recall the exact names of many restaurants I’ve visited, I can’t do the same in Japan.  But I can recall specific meals for sure.

Probably the most memorable meals were two different kaiseki meals.  These are multi-course feasts.  You get a little of everything: a perfectly grilled portion of beef (kobe if you’re lucky and/or rich), the very freshest sashimi, delicate soups and more.  Every course is a revelation of simplicity and pleasure.

Kaiseki is a typical setting for business dinners, so in some regards the enjoyment of the meal is also a reflection of the relationship with the persons with whom you’re dining.  As a meal with someone you’ve just met, it can be a bit formal.  But with business friends, it can be thoroughly enjoyable.

One can’t mention Japan without talking about ramen.  It’s so plentiful, cheap and common as a lunch meal that you could dismiss its sublime nature; rich broth, toothsome noodles and just the right balance of ingredients.

If you’re my wife, the quest for great ramen outside Japan is approching an obsession.  Too bad she hasn’t been to Japan more often.  And ramen causes obsession in Japan too, as evidenced by the movie Tampopo.

Another memorable meal was a simple one.  I asked the concierge at the hotel to send me to a neighborhood sushi restaurant.  The type that would be small and catered to the residents.  My colleague led me to believe that he loved sushi too, though in retrospect his tastes were pretty limited.

We walked into a place with maybe two stand alone tables and took two of just eight seats at the sushi bar.  It was simple, almost rustic.

I ordered omakase style, where you place your trust in the chef to choose your food.  You are often richly rewarded.  The chef proceeded to present a series of fishes, many of which I hadn’t had before. Given how much sushi I’ve eaten over the years, this was an accomplishment in its own right.

The most surprising dish of the night was when the chef lit a small bunsen burner, and proceeded to grill a couple of oysters on the half shell.  Before serving, he drizzled a little bit of soy and maybe some rice wine vinegar.  The dish embodied Japanese food: fresh, simple.  Every ingredient contributes something, but only 2-4 ingredients are used in all.

I can’t wait to return.

My heart is heavy over the destruction and loss of life in Japan following the earthquake;  Japan is one of my favorite places on earth.

However, there might be a (small) silver lining in the face of such bad news.  The massive capital expenditures required to re-build the country may help Japan reinvigorate economic growth in the face of many years of financial stasis.

I’m no expert, but it seems that Japan has been in an economic logjam for a while.  First, you have a personal savings rate that is very high relative to other G20 countries.  And that rate hasn’t fluctuated much despite the recessionary periods of the last 20 years.  Second, you have a very healthy population whose life expectancy is high and getting higher.  Third, you have a low birth rate.  Last, you have a country with an isolationist immigration policy.  The end result: Japan’s growth has stalled as a result of expensive labor and a shrinking workforce.  It can’t afford its lifestyle of circa 1985 that followed a long period of economic expansion.

The system is hamstrung in terms finding new incentives and sources of investment capital .  Many of the constraints in the system are self-imposed by the populace as consumers and voters.

Which is where the silver lining could come in.

The massive spending required to re-build infrastructure will be government-led.  And that government is going to quickly find that a blue-collar workforce in Japan is in scarce supply and/or very highly paid.  Which it cannot afford.

Thus, the situation may necessitate the need to import workers from other countries.  Unlike during periods of stasis where cultural norms have prevailed, this relaxation of immigration policy could be face-saving in the name of “rebuilding”.

Why would this be good?  If you examine any other G20 country, you will observe fewer structural barriers to bi-lateral trade and immigration.  In other words, inexpensive labor can flow into a country when the conditions warrant it such as high capital investment.  And Japan needs this labor to afford the bill that the catastrophe has levied.

One could argue it’s not a very efficient use of capital to pay for infrastructure that was already paid for and is in fine working condition.  But Japan needs a reason to break the stasis and constraints of the last 20 years.  It changed so rapidly in the 40 years since World War 2, and prospered mightily.  Another wave of change would help Japan re-calibrate in a world has changed a lot in the last 20 years and is more interdependent than ever.

Physically, an island.  Metaphorically, perhaps not for long.  Which could be good.

To me, food is perhaps the most significant manifestation of a culture.  What else has the potential to express a culture’s values three times a day, every day? And the consumption of food is highly ritualistic, an integral part of defining how families interact, how business is done, how communities function.

To test my assumption, I thought about all of the countries I have visited and my ability to recall memories of food.  It was easy.  So many memorable moments revolved around food.  In many cases, I could recall the precise dish and restaurant.

This post is the first in a series.  I’ll start with North America followed by Europe, Asia and the Caribbean in future posts.  Here’s a sampling:

New Orleans.  Oysters and 300 beers to choose from at Cooter Brown’s.  Pecan waffles at Camellia Grill.  Mac and cheese at Rocky & Carlo’s in Chalmette.  Barbeque shrimp at Pascal’s Manale.  Fried oyster po-boy at Mother’s.  Anything at Jazz Fest.  Muffuletta sandwich at Central Grocery.  A great meal at Herbsaint whose details I can’t remember.  With New Orleans, I could go on.

Boston.  This one’s tough as it’s my home town with too many memories to fit one blog entry.  That said, here’s a few.  Clam chowder at Legal Sea Foods.  Tasting menu at Radius.  Cannoli at Mike’s Pastry.  Fried clams at Woodman’s or The Clam Box.  Anything at Oleana.  Pizza at Emma’s.  Shrimp & grits at Hungry Mother.  Burgers at Barley’s.

San Francisco.  Crab cakes and broiled fish at Tadich Grill.  Anything Asian in downtown Mountain View.  Mongolian pork chops at Mustards Grill in Napa.  Cheap sushi and sake bombs at Miyake in Palo Alto.  Simple pasta dishes and sidewalk dining at a defunct Italian resto in Palo Alto whose name I can’t recall.

New York.  This one’s hard if only because my culinary adventures span 30 years.  Maybe the most memorable trip was my first, at age 13.  My older brother first exposed me to Thai food, sushi and Chinese in one weekend.  Thereafter:  Sugar Reef on Second Avenue for great, cheap Caribbean food in the East Village.  Brunch at Maxwell’s Plum.  Sushi at innumerable good places.  Aureole for some duck dish I can’t remember.  Henry’s End in Brooklyn Heights for exotic game on the grill.  Zarela for killer margaritas.  Gustavino’s for one of the more memorable settings ever: under the arches of the 59th Street Bridge.

Halifax.  Clearwater for freshly cooked lobsters to take home and make lobster rolls.  Lots of meals cooked at my Mom’s house.  In fact, she probably wouldn’t want me to speak of anything in Halifax that she didn’t cook.

Toronto.  Bouillabaisse with grilled seafood at Pronto, long defunct.  I would literally go there every trip to Toronto in the early 90’s.  And that was a lot of times.  Bistro 990 for duck confit and celebrity sightings during the film festival.

Montreal.  Schwartz’s for smoked meat sandwiches.  Bagels at Fairmount.  Though I can’t profess a love for their wood-fired oven flavor and texture, they certainly differ from New York style.

Washington, DC.  Sushi Taro for some of the best Japanese cuisine I’ve had outside of Japan.  Also the place I first tasted unfiltered sake.  Yum.  I suppose it helps to be located near the Japanese embassy.  Restaurant Nora before the Clintons even got there.

Other cities with great food but foggy memories:  Chicago.  Portland, Maine.  Seattle.  Los Angeles.  Vancouver.

Stay tuned for future installments elsewhere in the world.