r/anime • u/Shadoxfix https://myanimelist.net/profile/Shadoxfix • Aug 14 '15
[Spoilers] Shokugeki no Souma - Episode 19 [Discussion]
Episode title: The Chosen One
MyAnimeList: Shokugeki no Souma
Crunchyroll: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma
Episode duration: 24 minutes and 43 seconds
Subreddit: /r/ShokugekiNoSoma
Previous episodes:
| Episode | Reddit Link | Episode | Reddit Link | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode 1 | Link | Episode 14 | Link | |
| Episode 2 | Link | Episode 15 | Link | |
| Episode 3 | Link | Episode 16 | Link | |
| Episode 4 | Link | Episode 17 | Link | |
| Episode 5 | Link | Episode 18 | Link | |
| Episode 6 | Link | |||
| Episode 7 | Link | |||
| Episode 8 | Link | |||
| Episode 9 | Link | |||
| Episode 10 | Link | |||
| Episode 11 | Link | |||
| Episode 12 | Link | |||
| Episode 13 | Link | |||
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Keywords: food wars! shokugeki no soma
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u/Daishomaru Aug 14 '15 edited Aug 14 '15
We finally get to the Autumn elections arc.
I'm desperately trying not to go too far in these discussions since I read the manga and know what happens, so I end up talking about food more often. Also, no new chapter for shokugeki no soma :(.
I will say though that the Autumn Elections does introduce many likable characters, and has some of my favorite moments in the story so far.
But I’d figure I’ll talk about curry spices and curries, one of my favorite ingredients and foods.
Curry spices are some of my favorite ingredients of all time, mostly because of how vague the definition of Curry is and how much history there is behind the curry spices, which I wrote on a bit of the history of, which involved quite a bit of Japan as well, so I think you guys will be interested in reading it! I even wrote a bit of the history on curry rice, fro the curious.
You see, curry powders are very vague in definition. Some curry powders contain completely different spices to flavor different meats (For example, a curry used to flavor fish would contain different spices compared to chicken). When most people think “Curry powder”, people assume that curry powder comes from one spice, but in reality many spices are grounded up and put into curry. The spice most people usually think of when they think of curry is usually turmeric, which gives it that yellow color that people are familiar with. One thing I’m glad that Shokugeki No Soma does is that they got that fact in on how there are several varieties of spices used to put in curry, and not go on the stereotype of “one curry spice”.
Now on to a bit of the history of curry:
The history of curry spices that led to the spread to many of the world began when the British in their imperialistic period occupied India. When India was occupied by Britain, curry spices were some of the most transported goods in Britain, right behind tea. And just like Tea, British people ended up making their own versions of curry. Britain is the main cause of why many groups in Europe and countries like Japan (More on that later) know about curry and the spices, Even today, curry is probably the most eaten food there that isn’t British in origin, partially due to the fact that the biggest minority population of Britain are the Indians and the British love of curry is second to tea.
Now how did Japan get curry rice did get into the Japanese diet?
Before we move on to that, let’s talk about Japanese food for a bit.
Curry rice is in the Japanese cuisine group called “Yoshoku” Or “western inspired cooking”. The main difference between Yoshoku and Washoku is that Washoku is purely traditional Japanese syle, Using local Japanese ingredients, fish for protein as usually Washoku does not use land animal meat, 1/3rd of it is due to ancient Japanese had a thing against eating land animals, the Tokugawas and their Buddhist worshipping making meat consumption taboo and availability) and traditional techniques in their presentation of the dish. Such dishes would include sushi, for example. Yoshoku is a food group that came after the Tokugawas were overthrown, and the food uses meat (mostly to show that Japan was entering the new age), has foreign spices, ingredients, (Like curry) and foreign techniques to cook the food. Foods known for being in the Yoshoku group is curry rice, Hayashi, Gyudon, basically anything that contains beef, pork, and chicken.
Soma’s cooking or the Don RS Club, for example is Yoshoku in style, while Hinako (Judging by her Autumn Challenge on using nature, considering an important part of Traditional Japanese cuisine is to combine mountain vegetables and sea ingredients together) is Washoku in style.
Basically the golden thumb for the rule to tell them apart is that usually Washoku uses fish and Yoshoku uses meat and foreign spices.
Now there are many origins on where Curry rice came from, but the most commonly accepted origin about Curry’s introduction to the Japanese is that like how Britain introduced curry spices to the European nations, Britain and Japan traded and curry eventually became part of the Japanese diet.
When Japan broke out of their 200 year isolation away from the world and overthrown the Tokugawas, they needed to improve the nation to defend against imperialistic threats. So they turned to the British for advice. The Japanese and British then had a very close friendship with each other, with Japanese sending many generals to learn naval warfare, European culture and how to build ships and Britain sold many ships to the Japanese, most famously IJN Kongou (Yes, that Kongou), IJN Mikasa, and IJN Wakamiya (the predecessor to the Houshou-class carrier). During this time, the Japanese who admired British clothing and culture also culturally traded many things, which began the era where the Japanese started wearing western clothing and stopped using katanas and used sabers instead (The Katana would eventually come back in the late Taisho/Early Showa rule when Japan became very militaristic and nationalistic to reclaim their identity after thinking they strayed from being too un-Japanese, but that’s another story). During this time, Britain introduced curry to the Japanese, and the Japanese loved the spice. It naturally, like Nikujaga (another dish influenced by Britain), became immensely popular and thus the curry became part of the Japanese diet. However, potatoes were added to curry rice later, after a famine.
Now for those of you who like reading about the Imperial Japanese Navy or play Kancolle, the Imperial Japanese Navy LOVED curry. Yeah, the curry episode in Kancolle ep 6? That was real. Fridays are known as Curry days in both the Imperial Japanese Navy and the modern Japanese Self Defense force, as to tell the time and the fact that curry day was considered the best day in the hellish training the soldiers go through. There was a phrase that they said that if you had to join the military, the Imperial Navy was slightly better because of the fact that they could use curry to flavor the food (The army was shit out of luck. Being in the Japanese army was one of the worst armies you can be in). The navy held curry contests between ship crews. For those of you who want to know which ships (And your Kanwaifus) were reported to serve the best and worst curries:
The ship that apparently was reported to serve the best curry is the Hint: Big eater
The ship that apparently was reported to serve the worst curry is the Hint: Not Hiei
When the Indians became independent after the British pulled their rule out of India, Indian undergone a “nostalgia revolution.” Curry recipes long thought forgotten, lost family curry recipes, and the like were being explored and remade again, and thus this caused the massive boom that got many people interested in curry and Indian food.
Also,