Food and Agriculture

On 6th February, I participated in a cooking event called “Cooking Challenge,” which was organized by the Rotary Club in Rome. The event was held at a vocational school for hotel management in the outskirts of Rome. When I arrived there, students dressed in uniforms welcomed me at the reception.

Did you read the latest post of Bobby’s Diary? I wrote about a pizza and barbecue party in my neighborhood, which was a ‘beary’ good opportunity to expand my EEN family. At the party, we all got intrigued with the tattoos of the Italian man.

EEN stands for the Economic Empowerment Network. EEN is pronounced “ee (ii)-en.” In Japanese, “ee (ii)” means “good,” and “en” has two meanings: the first is “human relationships” or a bond decided by fate; the second is “circle.” Today, let me introduce an “EEN” that has been established in the community where I (= Bobby) and the EEN founder, our global mom (= Yasuko) live.

The other day, I went to a French restaurant in Tokyo. Look at this! Isn’t it so beautiful? It is a terrine made with different vegetables. My friend and I tried to count how many kinds of vegetables were used in the vegetable art: broccoli; cauliflower; cucumber; okra; haricot bean; spinach; white leek; mushroom; baby corn…..

Look! The green sushi rolls wrapped in sliced avocado are named Green Samurai in a Japanese restaurant in Liberia. The ones on the right are named Crazy Special. Is it because the spiky decoration looks crazy?

My mom came back from Liberia in March, having finished a rural livelihood improvement project there. She showed me some photos of the project. Look at this photo! What do you think these women are doing?

Sushi is one of the well-known Japanese dishes. My mom is working in Liberia. In Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, there are two restaurants where Sushi is served. She went to one of them the other day. When she was looking at the menu, she was intrigued by one of the names.

June and July bring around the rainy season in Japan. During the season, hydrangeas are beautiful everywhere. Colorful hydrangeas are also in bloom near my apartment. The other day, my mom went to a cake shop near our apartment, and found this item there. What does it look like?

It might be a little too late, but let me tell you about this. On January 3rd, my mom went to a restaurant in Tokyo to have lunch with her friend. Across the road from the restaurant, they found a famous fruit shop. They dropped in the fruit shop, and my mom was “beary” surprised to see the prices of the fruit there.

There are a lot of “food cultures” in the world. Eating habits differ, depending on the country. My mom has been working in Laos since last November, where they eat worms, insects, frogs, and small animals. Have you ever eaten any of them? Would you like to try some?