Welcome to Oishiness

You can't turn on the television here in Japan without watching some famous actor, singer, or comedian take a bite out of something scrumptious-looking, pause in a moment of dramatic consideration, and then gasp and shout, "OISHII!!!" Literally the word oishii means something like "tasty" but it's used with much greater frequency and with a primal connotation that makes it closer to "mm mm good." 

This blog is about all things oishii - the foods I encounter in Tokyo and wherever else I wander in the world. I baked the cupcakes shown in the photo at the top about one year ago for my going-away-from-Nashville party. Here in Tokyo, my kitchen is literally on the countertop above my washer-dryer in the entrance hall, and I have to confess I have not attempted to make any cupcakes here. To tell the truth, it's not just the size of my kitchen holding me back, but many other factors as well. For one thing, my boyfriend and all his cupcake-monster friends are still in Nashville and not available to help me polish them off. For another, there are enough bakery windows full of tempting, gorgeous pastries here in Tokyo that no one even has to own an oven (and as a matter of fact, there is no built-in oven in probably 99% of the apartments here - you have to buy a combo microwave and convection oven if you have the urge to bake at home).

However, there are plenty of things I do cook at home - dinner for one every night, to start with. And when someday I move back to the USA, land of ovens and opportunities for home-baked oishiness, there will be plenty more cupcakes where these came from.