Saturday, October 22, 2011

Japanese Dish Soap


I'll put the moral first this time: Don't try two strange new products at the same time.

Especially if one is supposed to be edible and the other isn't.
I don't know how my new, flowery-scented Gain dish detergent got into the vegetable pan on the counter. I do know that it is nearly invisible, and that it didn't catch my attention at all as I added the bag of new "Japanese" vegetables and turned on the heat.
"What's that smell?" asked Claye, as she came in and began to ice the glasses.
"Japanese vegetables. I think they must have some kind of crop over there that we don't eat here," I replied, "Still, Asian food is supposed to be healthier so I suppose it can't hurt."

She looked at the package. "Hmm. There's nothing Asian about these vegetables. There all American."
I was a little defensive. After all, I was the cook here. "I'm sure they've put some kind of flowery spice in them. Don't Asians use flowers to scent their food?"

She was hesitant, "Well yes."
"Ok. We'll try it."
So we served it along with lunch.

I ate one bite and dumped the rest down the disposal. Too bad if I'm not open to foreign foods.
Claye ate a little more, not because she is of an accepting nature, but she was willing to make an exception for Japanese cuisine, because she likes Japanese art and music.

Turtle ate all of his, because he is the man of the house and has to be the leader in courageous acts, and because he "actually enjoys trying new foods of all cultures".

Still, we kept talking about it, puzzling over the strange tastes of other peoples. Then we read the label on the vegetable package and found nothing unusual--no "other spices", not even "foreign flavorings".

It was then, that my brain finally started working properly and I grabbed up the new bottle of detergent.
Sure enough. Same pungent smell. Flowery. Soapy.
I think even the Japanese would have spit it out!

1 comment:

aftergrace said...

Oh dear! Hope nobody has any digestive issues over this one! Glad you figured it out, so next time you try Japanese veggies they will not taste like soap. :)