Squid Ink Cuisine
Italian food is very much in vogue in today's Japan, but in fact Okinawa has been "eating Italian" since the days of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Maybe. There is a dish in Okinawa called "Ika Sumi" (squid ink) made with squid, pork, and Sojina (a bitter vegetable) in Katsuo Dashi soup and squid ink. Called Shinji cuisine in general, the dish is eaten as a soup with high medicinal value, following the philosophy of "food as medicine". The origins of this dish are not clear, but one explanation has it that it was introduced to Okinawa by Christian missionaries who came to propagate the faith. It is amusing to think that while the Christian religion itself failed to take root, Okinawans readily took to the cooking and it became closely connected to their diet.
This is still true, but squid soup does not make a regular appearance on the dinner table. The so-called Shinji cuisine mentioned above is not cooking that is frequently eaten. It is to be eaten for its healthy effects when one is anemic or slightly feverish, or perhaps suffering extreme fatigue. In the old days, the medicines we now have did not exist, so people used what are now called "folk medicines, " readily available foods and ingredients that they learned had curative or restorative qualities.
However, nowadays squid ink itself is used in a variety of ways in Okinawan cooking. The ink is found in Okinawa soba noodles; there is squid ink bread, squid ink curry, and many Ryukyu Izakaya (Japanese-style pubs) feature original squid ink menus. When the owner of an Italian restaurant in Okinawa was interviewed, he told this story with a laugh: "When I was young, I gave the Italian chef I was training under some squid ink soup. He said 'Such a delicious dish doesn't exist in Italy itself! Give me the recipe!'" No doubt the warm climate of the Mediterranean Sea and the seafood eaten there are very similar to those of Okinawa.
Since ancient times, Okinawa has absorbed the cultures of other countries and made them bloom into its own unique one. In the case of food, too, this squid ink cuisine is an example of absorbing the best tastes of other countries and giving them a distinctive development.
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