2018年9月21日金曜日 - 
Cody: American Festival Foods
Grilled fish on a skewer. Pickles. Yakisoba. Hashimaki. Steamed
potatoes. These are the kinds of treats you'd expect to find at a festival in
Japan. Perhaps at the Tenjin festival. It probably won't surprise you to learn
that festival food in America is starkly
different – save for two things.
Those
two things are cotton candy and pickles.
The co
tton candy is quite similar, but the pickles are not. Aside from those two things, the offerings at a festival (or fair, as we usually call them) are completely different.
While
you might snack on a skewer of chicken or beef here during matsuri-time, in
America, the closest paralell would be a smoked turkey leg. Of preposterous size, mind you.
Popcorn
could be considered ubiquitous at fairs.
What, you didn't think it was just for eating at the movies, did you?
People love a huge bucket of the stuff, practically drowned
in butter.
Perhaps
a distant cousin of (read; not really) of hashimaki would be funnel cake, which at a glance is little more than
a glorified donut. A large piece of cakey bread that's been deep fried and
topped with butter, sugar, whipped cream and fruit sauce. Doesn't quite sound
American enough, does it?
But
wait – hold your horses. We're just getting started with the fried stuff.
You've
heard of Oreos, right? The famous chocolate sandwich cookie? Well, at fairs
they love to dip them in sweet batter and fry them. Yes, you read that
correctly. Don't second-guess your reading abilities when it comes to Americans
and our love of frying everything.
We
also like to fry cheesecake. And ice cream. And cheese.
Care
to make a guess about the king of all the fried goods at a fair? If you guessed
butter, you'd be correct. That's right – deep fried butter. Ever wanted to make
tempura butter before? Me neither.
If
you look hard enough, you'll also find ludicrous delights such as a
cheeseburger, the bread of which is a Krispy Kreme donut.
Of
course, there's more pedestrian offerings
such as French fries, cookies, chicken nuggets and what not but if you're at a
festival in America, why not go crazy? Why not eat a stick of fried butter with
a side of fried cheesecake, and some funnel cake with fried ice cream for
dessert?
The
fair foods of the US are really seen as a no-limits indulgence.
When you're at a fair, don't hold back –
I mean, how could you be considered holding back in any way with fried butter
on the menu?
skewer：串
starkly：際立って
cotton candy：綿あめ
preposterous：途方もない
ubiquitous：至る所にある
drowned：溺れた・どっぷり浸かった
funnel
cake：＊写真参照
fried
stuff：揚げ物
pedestrian：平凡な
indulgence：道楽
hold
back：自制する