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東京はグルメの夢の世界
東京は、美食の本場・フランスが発行する『ミシュランガイド』に認められる以前から、世界でも有数の食の都であった。
和食はもちろん、いろいろな国のさまざまな料理を楽しめる。
ただし、調査の対象をもっと広げれば、1つ星クラスのレストランはいくらでもあるはずだと筆者は言う。
Tokyo: The city of culinary dreams
At long last the world is beginning to recognize what Tokyoites have known for ages. Namely; the capital of Japan is home to the most appealing collection of restaurants in the world today.
At least that's the word from France's Michelin guide, the star-struck gourmand's bible. The guide evaluates establishments based on their food, service and ambience. If a place makes the grade, the guide awards one to three stars ("★ a very good restaurant in its category, ★★ excellent cooking, worth a detour, and ★★★ exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.")
When the first Tokyo guide came out in 2008, the city's restaurants garnered a total of 191 stars. The culinary mecca of Paris, in comparison, was deemed worthy of a mere 65 stars. The trend looks set to continue with the 2009 edition awarding 227 stars to Tokyo.
What I find fascinating is that the French guide's look at Tokyo is only the merest glance, no more than a quick wink in the direction of the local food scene. A more comprehensive gander could easily ferret out several thousand one-star restaurants that meet the criteria of being "a very good restaurant in its category."
Japan is the birthplace of sushi, chanko nabe, kaiseki ryori and er, monjayaki, so it goes without saying that one can find venerable masters turning out perfect renditions of these and other Japanese classics here, in the capital. The surprise is that no other city hosts such a wide variety of high quality cuisine from the ends of the Earth.
While the bright lights and appreciative gourmands of Tokyo have drawn some of the brightest talents from abroad, there are also a number of Japanese cooks who have heard the siren call of foreign kitchens and gone abroad to study — and not just to France.
Some of these intrepid culinary voyagers have traveled to Naples to learn how to make perfect pizzas in wood burning ovens. Another one I know studied Arabic and Turkish cooking and cooks a cous cous that would make a Tunisian weep with joy. And still another came back from Thailand to open a closet-sized restaurant underneath an apartment building where he dispensed shockingly good food from the Land of Smiles.
Restaurants and food trends come and go with astonishing speed here, but like one local wag once told me: "You can find almost anything in Tokyo if you know where to look."
And over the years, without leaving town, I've been able to dine on Belarusian goose, Burmese fermented tea salad, Sri Lankan string hoppers (rice noodles), Romanian polenta, Uighur fried noodles, Tibetan dumplings, English shepherd's pie, and Mongolian khorkhog (steamed lamb), to name just a few.
If I could just find a New York style corned beef on rye sandwich, a Mexican taco stand, and a southern barbeque pit, then Tokyo would truly be the city of my culinary dreams.
- culinary
- 料理の、おいしい
- Tokyoites
- 東京人
- Namely
- すなわち
- is home to 〜
- 〜がある
- star-struck gourmand's bible
- 星が付いた(star-struckは本来は「スターに魅せられた」の意)美食家のバイブル
- establishments
- 店
- ambience
- 雰囲気
- makes the grade
- 基準に達する
- detour
- 回り道
- garnered
- 〜を獲得した
- mecca
- 中心地
- in comparison
- それに対して
- looks set to 〜
- 〜しそうに思われる
- merest glance
- 最少の検分
- quick wink
- 一瞬見ること
- in the direction of 〜
- 〜の方面を
- local
- 地元の
- comprehensive gander
- 細大もらさず見ること
- ferret out
- 〜を探し出す
- venerable masters
- 巨匠
- renditions
- 自分なりのバージョン
- hosts
- 〜を出す
- appreciative
- 確かな舌を持つ
- brightest talents
- 最も才能ある人
- have heard the siren call
- 魅惑のいざないを聞く
- intrepid
- 勇敢な
- cous cous
- クスクス
- Tunisian
- チュニジア人
- dispensed
- (料理を)出していた
- Land of Smiles
- ほほ笑みの国(タイのこと)
- wag
- ひょうきんなヤツ
- Belarusian
- ベラルーシの
- goose
- ガチョウ
- Burmese
- ビルマの
- fermented tea salad
- 発酵させた茶葉のサラダ
- string hoppers
- ビーフンのこと
- polenta
- ポレンタ(練ったとうもろこしの粉を使う料理)
- Uighur
- ウイグル
- fried noodles
- 焼きそば
- dumplings
- 団子
- shepherd's pie
- 羊飼いのパイ(イギリスの伝統料理)
- rye
- ライ麦パン
- taco stand
- タコスの屋台
- barbecue pit
- バーベキュー炉