Story and photos by Dr. Michael Lim The Travelling GourmetTM

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Food photos are of real food with no photoshop

The irreverent and debonair Travelling GourmetTM visits Oishii Japan 2014 in Suntec City to…

MUNCH Octopus from Nagasaki in Japan…so yummie and tender and flavoursome. Much better than the African Octopus that was there for a taste comparison. This is the 3rd edition of Oishii Japan held this year from 16 October to 18 October, 2014. Oishii Japan in 2014 is the largest showcase of authentic Japanese food and beverages in its series. It featured 266 exhibitors from 32 Japanese prefectures across 6,000 square metres. The show’s growth is a testament to the robust demand for quality Japanese F&B products in the region, not withstanding the anxiety over radiocative contamination of food after the Fukushima disaster. My first stop was the Fukushima Prefecture stand where the officers lost no time to reassure me with lots of data and information leaflets, that all the food from Fukushima was certified safe and not radioactive. In other words you will not glow in the dark after eating them! ALL the rice, milk, meat, eggs, edible wild plants, mushrooms. vegetables, fruit and marine products are painstakingly tested for any radioactive materials according to the Codex Alimentarius Commission which is an international institution established by the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. hence contaminated products are prevented from entering the market and food chain. For example, from April 2013 to march 2014, 1,457 edible wild plants and mushrooms were tasted and 80 products wre found to have radioactive materials in excess of standard values which is only 5.49%. For meat, eggs, vegetables and fruit and raw milk, NO products were found to have radioactive materials in excess of standard values!

I did a taste test of Japanese Octopus from Nagasaki and African Octopus…the japanese octopus won hands down!

At the Beard Papa stand, a very pretty Japanese Pastry Chef bade me try Beard Papa’s Custard Puff. It was an offer I could not possibly refuse. Soft and moist like the kiss of a beautiful woman…this is Japan’s answer to the ubiquitous Cream Puff or Custard filled Choux Pastry. Yummie!

Japanese Spirit known as Shochu was also on offer. I had to say Kampai (cheers) to that!

When it comes to food and beverages, we all want good food and not food that will be bad for us, for eg. all kinds of contaminated food from the People’s Republic of China like melamine tainted milk powder, etc. Food is life and we are what we eat! Enjoy life! It’s very short…

To be continued…