From Ethnic to Hip: Circuits of Japanese Cuisine in Europe.

During the last decade, Japanese cuisine has become rooted in Europe. The once unusual-sounding dishes, such as SUSHI, TEPPANYAKI , and TEMPURA , are now familiar to millions of Europeans. They not only merely encounter these names in popular magazines and cooking shows on television, but also a growing number of people in Europe actually consume these dishes on a regular basis, at lunch corners and business receptions, restaurants and bars, and even in their own homes. This article describes the historical development of the establishments serving Japanese cuisine in Europe, with particular focus on Great Britain and the Netherlands. It seeks to highlight the variety of historical and global connections that contributed to the spread of Japanese food in Europe. Furthermore, it demonstrates the diversification of the image of Japanese food in Europe during the last decade, from an exotic, ethnic fare, through a fashionable style of dining, to a health-conscious fast food. Many classic restaurants continue to provide Japanese expatriates with the taste of home and offer Europeans a clichéd “taste of Japan,” represented by waitresses dressed in kimono and interiors featuring lampions, bonsai plants, and calligraphy. Concurrently, however, newer establishments that serve particular types of Japanese food, such as beef from the griddle ( TEPPANYAKI ), SUSHI , and noodles, have mushroomed, grounding themselves as major genres in European dining. These and other establishments offer an ever-widening choice of culinary variations on the Japanese theme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]