eating local

I've read on a couple of blogs that this month is eat local month. Let me tell you, eating locally (radius 100 miles) in Osaka kind of limits you. Needless to say that it has been hard to find local veggies, seasonings, EVERYTHING. Most of the "good stuff" comes from a little further than the 100 miles. So, I've decided to eat local when possible....

Still, there is one place that I like to order from, OusunoSato. They are a cute little store in Gion, Kyoto. They specialize in making "umeboshi" (pickled plums). Some versions are sour, some salty, some sweet. They also make a dressing, which is great on a grated daikon (turnip) salad. Since I don't go to Kyoto too often, I usually order from their catalog or "otoriyose" as it is called in Japanese.

I recently placed an order with them and eagerly awaited for my delivery. It finally came today, but I was a bit disappointed because I ordered the wrong item! Instead of 2 packages of rakkyo (pickled onions), I ordered 2 packages of benishoga (red ginger). The 2 items are close together on the order slip and I mistakenly checked the benishoga! sigh.

One thing you should understand is that most food items in Japan cannot be returned (especially if you made the mistake of ordering it!), but the neat thing is they send the merchandise before payment! How trusting is that!

So, I guess I'll have to think of ways for us to eat the shoga (ginger)...