We had a chance to eat at Tojo's while we were in Vancouver and heard the story from Chef Tojo himself. Very nice dude, and the food was pretty good as well!
The California roll was invented by a Japanese-Canadian chef (2020)
11–20 of 162 posts
Re: The California roll was invented by a Japanese-Canadian chef (2020)
#12"California" as a modifier to food generally means "with avocado" If you get a "California burger" it will have avocado on it
""California" as a modifier to food generally means "with avocado""
I read that quickly, ignored the "to food" component, and then imagined all Californians walking around with an avocado in their pocket at all times...
Re: The California roll was invented by a Japanese-Canadian chef (2020)
#13As was Hawaiian pizza.
Re: The California roll was invented by a Japanese-Canadian chef (2020)
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Also, the headline is wrong, it was not a Canadian chef but rather a Japanese chef living in Canada. According to wikipedia he moved to Canada in 1971 at age 21. It calls him Japanese-Canadian. I'd wager he's become a Canadian citizen by now, though I can't be bothered to research it. Do you have evidence that is he not Canadian?
At the time of his invention, back in '71, I'd say he was pretty Japanese. Today he's likely Canadianized. So the spirit of the invention is Japanese, rather than Canadian. If I move to the UK and invent something, is it automatically a British invention, or an American invention?
But the headline of the story is technically not incorrect...that is that point being made I think...
Re: The California roll was invented by a Japanese-Canadian chef (2020)
#15"California" as a modifier to food generally means "with avocado" If you get a "California burger" it will have avocado on it
According to the Chef who was born in Japan, he says they add "California" to names of things as a stand-in for any place in north America because they recognize California but may not recognize Vancouver or Podunk Washington, etc.
Re: The California roll was invented by a Japanese-Canadian chef (2020)
#16As was Hawaiian pizza. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_pizza
Also ginger fried beef: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ginger-beef-food-crit...
Re: The California roll was invented by a Japanese-Canadian chef (2020)
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Also, the headline is wrong, it was not a Canadian chef but rather a Japanese chef living in Canada. According to wikipedia he moved to Canada in 1971 at age 21. It calls him Japanese-Canadian. I'd wager he's become a Canadian citizen by now, though I can't be bothered to research it. Do you have evidence that is he not Canadian?
At the time of his invention, back in '71, I'd say he was pretty Japanese. Today he's likely Canadianized. So the spirit of the invention is Japanese, rather than Canadian. If I move to the UK and invent something, is it automatically a British invention, or an American invention?
[deleted]
Re: The California roll was invented by a Japanese-Canadian chef (2020)
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Also, the headline is wrong, it was not a Canadian chef but rather a Japanese chef living in Canada. According to wikipedia he moved to Canada in 1971 at age 21. It calls him Japanese-Canadian. I'd wager he's become a Canadian citizen by now, though I can't be bothered to research it. Do you have evidence that is he not Canadian?
At the time of his invention, back in '71, I'd say he was pretty Japanese. Today he's likely Canadianized. So the spirit of the invention is Japanese, rather than Canadian. If I move to the UK and invent something, is it automatically a British invention, or an American invention?
the spirit of the invention is Japanese, rather than Canadian.
This is a pretty silly argument but the spirit (and purpose) of the invention is also clearly to make something more suitable for Canadian tastes of the time.
Re: The California roll was invented by a Japanese-Canadian chef (2020)
#19Food with placenames often are misleading and not from the placename that makes up the dish: french fries, hamburger, german chocolate cake, danish, wiener, etc. add california roll to that list. [and how could I forget Hawaiian pizza? as noted in sibling comment] Also, the headline is wrong, it was not a Canadian chef but rather a Japanese chef living in Canada.
Ok, I'll give you Japanese-Canadian in the title.
All the more to his credit that he figured out what the locals could handle back then.
Re: The California roll was invented by a Japanese-Canadian chef (2020)
#20Food with placenames often are misleading and not from the placename that makes up the dish: french fries, hamburger, german chocolate cake, danish, wiener, etc. add california roll to that list. [and how could I forget Hawaiian pizza? as noted in sibling comment] Also, the headline is wrong, it was not a Canadian chef but rather a Japanese chef living in Canada.
Lebanon bologna is from Lebanon... County. Not the country.