PASSIONATE RATIONS

My over-late postings this week must be blamed on the cat.

And I shouldn’t blame him. He has enough troubles already.

Diagnosed this week with likely cancer, I am watching him decline before my eyes. It’s hard for me to focus on much else.

But a report from NPR’s “Hidden Kitchens” series did manage to catch my attention Thursday. They explored the long-term impact the American government’s internment of its Japanese citizens during WWII had on the eating habits of the interred Japanese. Apparently, there continues to be a subset of Japanese-American citizens that developed a taste for certain American-military staples (spam, corned beef hash, weenies…) during their forced stay in the military-like settings.

It’s fascinating to me how history can continue to resonate through the ages at our dinner tables. Tradition is sometimes (often?) borne of trouble, I suppose.

I’d like to say that the culinary influence was a silver lining to an otherwise noxious period of U.S. history, but I can’t say much positive about developing a taste for Weenie Royale (hot dogs with rice, soy sauce and onions). Just sounds all bad to me.

But, then again, this week is full of troubled undertones.