EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH
Religion defines your repast

By Jay Sakashita

We define ourselves in part by the food we eat (raw fish, coagulated pig's blood, taro paste) and don't eat (pork, beef, or meat altogether).

Our diet in turn is a conduit to cultural and religious identities. Gods and spirits, too, are defined by a special diet, as demonstrated by the offerings at local gravesites and the ritual foods used in worship: bread and wine for Christ, fruits for Buddha, and a ram for Allah.

Food is defined not only by its ingredients but by wider religious notions of purity and pollution, delicacy and disgust. This mix of food, identity and religion is evident in Japanese cuisine.

Kami are deities in the Shinto religion. The kami Inari is widely venerated as a god of prosperity. Because messengers of Inari, foxes among them, are said to be fond of tofu, it is common to offer aburage, or fried bean curd, at Inari shrines.

From this association, "cone sushi" are called inari sushi. Likewise, noodles served with aburage in the broth are called kitsune soba — fox buckwheat noodles.

Kami may also exhibit a bawdy sense of humor and the capacity for malevolence. Cucumber sushi are called kappa maki and are named after kami that dwell in muddy waters and are known to suck blood. Kappa are said to be fond of cucumbers and can be appeased by them.

Shinto notions of simplicity and reverence for the natural state permeate Japanese cuisine. In contrast to the other cultures where cooking is the art of transforming ingredients that are not yet edible into something delicious and where culinary preparations create tastes that do not occur naturally, the traditional Japanese cuisine emphasizes that food be enjoyed as close as possible to its natural state. In Japanese cuisine, the ideal way of cooking is not to cook.

The perfect example of this is sashimi. Sashimi uses no heat whatsoever and consists of little more than slicing fish and arranging it on a plate.

If we define ourselves in part by the food we eat, we define our relationships in part by the meals we share. The emphasis on purity and the avoidance of pollution in Japanese religion underscore certain table manners.

Traditional Japanese chopsticks are made of plain wood. Chopsticks are never shared and even the most expensive Japanese restaurants will provide a pair of disposable chopsticks for each customer. One's chopsticks are allowed to touch only one's personal serving; food is never passed directly from one pair to another. Moreover, teishoku, or set meals, are often served in individual trays with small compartments separating food items to prevent mixing and pollution.

Food and eating habits are not determined simply by recipe and hunger but by the traditions and meanings associated with them. We are shaped by and are shapers of food, culture and religion. In short, you are what you eat and you eat who you are.

Jay Sakashita, who teaches religion at Leeward Community College and the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, keeps a cache of cucumbers on hand for emergencies.