Here is a somewhat delicious set meal I had at one of our local eateries. On the right is a steaming bowl of udon noodles, in the middle various pickles and on the left a 丼. Full marks and a biscuit is in the post if you remembered that this means bowl and applies to some kind of delicious food on rice in a, big shock here, bowl. This particular bowl had a selection of sashimi and fish eggs. In case you are entirely ignorant of Japanese food, sashimi is high quality raw fish. In fact, sashimi is far from just being raw fish, it can also be raw meat. No doubt to the horror of those imbued with the British equine-loving tradition one of these types of meat sashimi is basashi (馬刺し), none other than horse meat sashimi. I first heard about it when watching a rather lovely little film called I Wish, a story about two brothers living separately with their divorced mother and father who go on an adventure to get their wish granted. They follow up a rumour that their dreams will be granted if they make them next to a point where the Shinkansen (新幹線, better known to us as the Bullet Train) passes by. They go to the unspecified spot where this dream fulfillment supposedly occurs with a troupe each of their friends, all of whom have their own wishes from the resurrection of a dead pet to success as an actress. The two boys, who are really the protagonists of the tale, have the somewhat more prosaic yet much more touching wish to be reunited. On their travels they all end up being housed by a lonely elderly couple who, in a typically sweet turn of events, house them for a night and buy them some basashi. This whole story takes place on the southern island of Kyushu, on which can be found Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Kagoshima, the latter being famed for it's local volcano that continually belches ash onto the streets. Near Nagasaki and Fukuoka lies a city called Kumamoto, famous for its castle and for its basashi, and to where I will hopefully be heading in the new year, at which time I will no doubt regale you with tales of equine delights (perhaps less delightful for the horse).
Thanks for reading.
