Japan is known for, among other things, it’s food. But there’s a dark side to that: American food isn’t as readily available! Other foods are scarce, too, such as Mexican food, and some things you’d find at the grocery store in the US. (And in France and Spain, from having been over the past couple of years.) The recipe for peanut chicken, mentioned, in the episode, is available only to Patreon subscribers at the $10 or more level.

Content Notes

The entire thing is food talk. Skip this episode if that bothers you.

Transcript

K: So, lately I’ve been thinking about food in Japan. And specifically cream of mushroom soup.

C: It’s been thinking about it, too. It sent a postcard.

K: It would have to because it’s not available in Japan.

C: Right?

K: So, I feel like last year, cream of tomato soup was completely available whenever I wanted it. 

C: Okay, let’s be clear, you are not talking about cream of tomato soup. That is an abomination.

K: Yeah, no, I’m not talking about cream of tomato soup, what are you talking about?

C: Right, cream of mushroom soup.

K: Yeah, what am I saying?

C: You said cream of tomato.

K: I’m saying of cream of tomato?

C: Yeah.

K: What are you talking about? Did I really say cream of tomato?

C: You really did.

K: (laughs) I thought the cream of mushroom sounded weird when I said it, but I couldn’t figure out what was weird about it. 

C: Around the world, a thousand mushrooms cried out “nooooo”

K: Do they even make cream of tomato soup?

C: I don’t actually know. Because I would think the oxalic acid in the tomato would curdle the cream. It just wouldn’t taste very good, but I’m guessing they probably do… I think you just make tomato soup, it has no cream in it.

K: Isn’t there a tomato bisque soup that has cream in it?

C: Yeah, tomato bisque would have cream in it, but it wouldn’t be called cream of tomato, it’d be called tomato bisque because that way it hides how gross it would be.

K: Yeah. And bisques are served cold, right?

C: Some of them are. Yeah, I think bisque is usually served cold. I mean, there’s like… what was it? Jambalaya. 

K: Mhmm.

C: Which you could have… no, that doesn’t have tomato in it does it?

K: Some jambalaya has tomato in it, some don’t. Jambalaya recipes are vast and varies.

C: I’m just thinking of your family’s jambalaya that I’ve had. 

K: Yeah, no tomato in my family’s jambalaya.

C: Because my family never did that. From my family, like, 

K: Surprise. Quelle Surprise.

C: Cream of mushroom soup was what you put on toast if you wanted a tuna melt.

K: Oh wow.

C: You used, like, cream of mushroom soup and…

K: That just sounds so wrong to me, but then cream of mushroom soup is the foundation for all of my casseroles.

C: So that sounds so wrong to you, okay, how about Spanish rice? 

K: Oh god no, I think that’s just… ugh

C: Rice plus ketchup.

K: Yeah, yuck, yuck. So I made you Spanish rice once because when you told me that, I was like “no, you’ve gotta try real Spanish rice.” And I made it for you once.

C: And real Spanish rice is good.

K: Thank you.

C: I like it.

K: Thank you. So, for me, lately, like, for the past six months, I’ve been craving a tuna casserole. That’s really the only casserole I make, and I have like… several variations. Like tuna with peas and corns, creamy tuna casserole, cheesy tuna casserole, dry tuna casserole, crispy tuna casserole, so

C: Well, you have noodle-based casserole, rice-based casserole.

K: Oh yeah, noodle-based casserole, rice-based