がんばれジェトロパリ
日本「寿司」国際認証へ...韓国人運営食堂打撃憂慮日本政府が海外の寿司食堂を相手に「監察組(shshi police)」の運営に出た。 外国の寿司食堂のうち品質やサービスがまともにできた所を選び「認証」するというのだ。寿司監察組は今夏フランスに初めて登場した。日本貿易振興機構(JETRO)パリ支部が「真の日本の味とサービスが何かが分からなければならない」と料理専門家12人で構成された「日本食堂価値向上委員会」を作ったのだ。彼らは客を装って、大きくて有名だという寿司店80カ所を訪問した。 そして▽日本産の材料を使っているのか▽食べ物の質はどうか▽食べ物を盛るスタイルやサービスが日本的なのか--などを採点した。評価結果3分の1は基準を満たすことができなかった。 JETROは合格した食堂には箸を手に持ったデザインの「真の日本料理」マークを店につけることにした。日本政府は合格した食堂のみ政府運営サイトなどに勧める日本食堂名簿に入れる方針だ。 海外の寿司店の中には韓国人の運営する所が多いが、この基準をパスできない場合、営業に打撃を被るものとみられる。日本政府は監察組の活動領域を米国などほかの国にも広げる計画だ。 この記事を扱った米国のワシントンポストはしかし「いくら全世界的に寿司ブームが起こっているとはいうが、このような日本の動きは『食べ物の国粋主義』に映る」と指摘した。 この指摘に対して日本政府側は「何の問題もない」という立場だ。和食ブームに便乗し、全世界に「類似の日本食堂」が雨後の竹の子のようにでき、日本固有の飲食文化に歪曲現象が起こっているという主張だ。 日本政府のある関係者は「もし間違って作った寿司を食べて腹痛でも起こせば『和食は危ない』というイメージが広がることがありえる」とし「イタリアとタイも類似の制度を運営している」と強調した。 東京=金玄基(キム・ヒョンギ)特派員 2006.12.01 09:04:18 中央日報 ジェトロ。パリ支部が頑張ってるらしい。主に韓国勢が、猛烈に反発とか。ワシントンポストも、日本に「食べ物の国粋主義」に映ると、ど鈍いコメントをだしているとか。日本人は、かろうじて食べ物の件だけはアメリカに譲らないぐらいの姿勢はあるらしい。しかし、このジェトロ・パリ支部の殊勲賞ものの「「日本食堂価値向上委員会」なのだけれど、もっとも痛撃するのは韓国系経営者らしい。中央日報まで連れ立ってこの件を報道している。考えれば中国が平気でキムチをつくって世界市場で売っているのを黙っているばかりではなく、いかに似て非なるものであるのかを論証してみてはどうだろうか。味の国粋主義があってもいいのでは。その反動で、無国籍料理が旨くなればいいだけのことだから。アメリカも、フランスワインを有難がるのほどの趣味ならば当然純和風江戸前寿司に少しは敬意を払え!Putting the Bite On Pseudo Sushi And Other InsultsJapan Plans to Scrutinize Restaurant Offerings AbroadBy Anthony FaiolaWashington Post Foreign ServiceFriday, November 24, 2006; Page A01TOKYO -- On a recent business trip to Colorado, Japan's agriculture minister popped into an inviting Japanese restaurant with a hankering for a taste of back home. What Toshikatsu Matsuoka found instead was something he considered a high culinary crime -- sushi served on the same menu as Korean-style barbecued beef."Such a thing is unthinkable," he said. "Call it what you will, but it is not a Japanese restaurant." Most Blogged About Articles On washingtonpost.com | On the webSave & Share Article What's This? DiggGoogledel.icio.usYahoo!RedditFacebook A fast-growing list of gastronomic indignities -- from sham sake in Paris to shoddy sashimi in Bangkok -- has prompted Japanese authorities to launch a counterattack in defense of this nation's celebrated food culture. With restaurants around the globe describing themselves as Japanese while actually serving food that is Asian fusion, or just plain bad, the government here announced a plan this month to offer official seals of approval to overseas eateries deemed to be "pure Japanese."Some observers here have suggested that the government's new push for food purity overseas is yet another expression of resurgent Japanese nationalism. But the mentality in Japan also echoes a similar movement by several nations -- including Italy and Thailand -- now offering guidelines and reward programs to restaurants abroad to regain a measure of control over their increasingly internationalized cuisines.So beware, America, home of the California roll. The Sushi Police are on their way.A trial run of sorts was launched this summer in France, where secret inspectors selected by a panel of food specialists were dispatched to 80 restaurants in Paris that claimed to serve Japanese cuisine. Some establishments invited the scrutiny, while others were targeted with surprise checks. About one-third fell short of standards -- making them ineligible to display an official seal emblazoned with cherry blossoms in their windows or to be listed on a government-sponsored Web site of Japanese restaurants in Paris.Matsuoka, who took over Japan's top agricultural job in September, is the mastermind of the new "Japanese restaurant authentication plan." He said it does not always take a culinary sleuth to spot an impostor. "Sometimes you can tell just by looking at their signs that these places are phony," he said."What people need to understand is that real Japanese food is a highly developed art. It involves all the senses; it should be beautifully presented, use genuine ingredients and be made by a trained chef," he continued. "What we are seeing now are restaurants that pretend to offer Japanese cooking but are really Korean, Chinese or Filipino. We must protect our food culture."In recent years, few culinary traditions have witnessed the kind of global boom, and distortion, of Japanese food.In the United States alone, the number of restaurants claiming to serve Japanese food soared to 9,000 in 2005, or double the number a decade ago, according to Japanese government statistics. The government projects that the number of Japanese restaurants worldwide will leap to 48,000 by 2009, more than double the current level.Some have gone all-out to ensure authenticity. Masa in New York City imports its fish from Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market while Umu in London regularly flies in the soft water of Kyoto, Japan's old capital, to make its bonito fish broths. But they are largely exceptions in a world where the Japanese fear their food is being lost in translation.In the United States, the proliferation of counterfeit Japanese foods now includes seaweed rolls stuffed with smoked salmon and cream cheese. In Canada, Vera's Burger Shack in Vancouver is offering tempura-battered onion rings. As the recent test in Paris showed, even such gastronomic bastions as France can be guilty of sushi sacrilege.