How Curry Became a Japanese Naval Tradition • Hacker News Board

Re: How Curry Became a Japanese Naval Tradition

#61

Post by jogjayr » Fri, Oct 26, 2018, 4:29 PM UTC

etymacct123 wrote: post #23

jogjayr wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Soup as a dish, or the etymology of the word "soup"? Because soup as a dish predates recorded history certainly[1] (evidence found for it as far back as 20,0000 BC) but possibly even the modern human species. And if the dish is that old and universal, every culture would have its own name for it. "supa" and "soup" sounding similar is probably just a coincidence. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soup

it is not just similar sounds ctrl f supa in the link above i believe the dish described is basically the same and the arthashastra in any case outclasses all other attestations even if you take western dating the pushback on this etymology is seemingly more than even for the word cash which is also an indian word but the english would even prefer to credit the french for it than indians french caisse is a tangential…

> i believe the dish described is basically the same

"Basically the same" as what? "Soup" is a very broad term encompassing many, many dishes.

> and the arthashastra in any case outclasses all other attestations even if you take western dating

The Arthashastra is supposedly from the 2nd century BCE[1], but even if it's as old as Sanskrit itself[2], it still comes at least 15,000 years after the first evidence of soup. Soup is older than any language that's known today. Why would other cultures suddenly start using a Sanskrit word for a food that they've known and enjoyed for thousands of years?

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthashastra

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit

Re: How Curry Became a Japanese Naval Tradition

#62

Post by uranusjr » Fri, Oct 26, 2018, 8:06 PM UTC

In case someone is wondering why this only discusses curry being a naval tradition, although both the Army and Navy had the same beriberi problem—the Army solved it the same way as the Navy. Curry is as much a staple meal in the Army as Navy, just not celebrated as a culture as much.

Re: How Curry Became a Japanese Naval Tradition

#63

Post by themodelplumber » Sat, Oct 27, 2018, 12:28 AM UTC

jac_no_k wrote: post #34

themodelplumber wrote: post #2

Nice article. I remember first reading about kinyou curry in the manga series "Zipang" by Kaiji Kawaguchi, in which a modern Japanese Aegis destroyer gets time-warped back to WWII on the first day of the Battle of Midway. Semi-related: We hear a lot about about Japanese curry when it comes to soupy things. But we never hear about Japanese stew (shichuu). Sometimes when I was getting sick of curry--hard to imagine now…

If you manage to find a Japanese grocer, it's a staple item. In a pinch, order through Amazon: House Foods Cream Stew, 4.93 Ounce (Pack of 10) by House Foods Link: http://a.co/d/hXsgx21

Awesome, thank you!