Yesterday's Washington Post had an article about Japanese food shows.
I was really delighted to see them mention the Dotchi no Ryori Show, and even get the English translation of the title correct: "Which Dish?" Is this show available on English channels? Some of the search results when I was looking for that link seem to indicate that it is.
At my house, we call the show "Dotchi Kitchen," literally "Which Kitchen." We have a tendency to call Japanese shows by names which are neither the Japanese name, nor an English translation of the title, but instead which are more descriptive, for our purposes anyway. Thus Gokusen (or see the official site) becomes "Gangster Sensei," Nintama Rantaro becomes "Ninja School," and Aibo becomes "'That dumb cop show—you know, where the murderer is always a woman, what is up with that?' 'Well, there was that one time when the chef stabbed the restaurant critic to death with a frozen squid.' 'Yeah, but he was probably gay.'"
Anyway, Dotchi Kitchen. Their food wranglers (I don't mean the chefs, I mean the people who handle the filming) are the best in the business. This show isn't just food porn, it goes to a whole other level. It's food erotica. It's only a shade removed from full on smell and taste-o-vision.
Sometimes we can't watch it.
Dotchi Kitchen is in the form of a game show. At the end, after being subjected to the barrage of food erotica and seeing the dishes prepared right under their noses, a panel of celebrity guests votes on which of the two competing dishes is the best. Those who vote for the winning dish get to eat. Those who don't have to stand around behind them and watch. They all talk trash at each other. "Oh, this is so good. Too bad you can't have any." "You bastard, you said you were going to vote for the carbonara!" "I changed my mind. Mmm. This is the best pork tenderloin I've ever had. Too bad you can't have any. Oh well, more for me."
Sometimes we don't watch it. Like the time it was ginger pork stir fry vs. Salisbury steak.
It sounded … painful.
370 words | February 28, 2006 06:50 PM | Kitchen