Japanese cuisine in São Paulo

Historical Context

São Paulo is a city with many diverse cultures. Some neighborhoods nearly replicate the feeling and environment of places such as Korea, the Middle East, Italy and even Japan.^[1]

Immigration to Brazil began in 1530. In the early twentieth century there was a need for immigrants due to large areas of underdeveloped land and a lack of workers to develop it. In 1907, a contract between the government of São Paulo and the Empire Emigration Company was signed in order to introduce the Japanese population to the coffee business.^[1]

The first Japanese arrived in Brazil on the ship Kasato Maru. After a difficult journey, they landed in the port of Santos and came to the Inn of Immigrants in São Paulo,^[2] mainly to work on coffee farms.^[3] In the 1920s, many coffee plantations exchanged by the activities hortifrutigranjeiras.^[1]

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  Japanese immigrants going to coffee farm, 1930

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  Japanese immigrants tending coffee plantation

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  Japanese immigrants sifting coffee

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  Kasato Maru

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  Kasato Maru in the port of Santos

One of the major problems experienced by the Japanese was the difference in food. Their first meal on Brazilian soil was rice and beans. Despite Japanese familiarity with rice, the consistency of this rice was soft and not sticky the way they were used to. Another peculiar characteristic of Brazilian cuisine at the time was the use of lard, corn flour, cassava flour and garlic, which seemed quite strange to the Japanese palate. Not to mention that at that time it was hard to find fish and vegetables because they were not part of the local diet.^[4] Thus, for an extended period of time, meals for the Japanese immigrants consisted of rice and cod, the food most similar to their home cuisine. As they did not know how to desalt cod, to begin with they only passed it over hot coals.^[5] The rice was cooked in boiling water and served with coffee each morning. Over time, due to the high rice prices, rice consumption was reduced and replaced by cookies made of cornmeal, cassava flour, and corn, which complemented the coffee. Preserves, also fundamental to Japanese cuisine, did not exist in Brazil at that time, so the Japanese made adaptations such as pickled papaya. They later began manufacturing miso (salty soybean paste) and shoyu (soy sauce).^[5][6]

When the Japanese moved from the coffee farms to the capital in search of a better life, they concentrated in the neighborhood of Liberdade, specifically in Conde and Sazedas, which had cheaper rents and were closer to the city center. Often they rented rooms to others, bringing in additional income. The location of the neighborhood facilitated job searching, as did a comprehensive transport system that aided in getting to the most remote parts of the city center. The houses had basements completely independent of the rest of the house, and the basements gave rise to Japanese holiday food traditions.^[7]

The Japanese introduced to the country fruits and vegetables that were not traditionally part of Brazilian cooking and created greenbelts, cultivated areas previously considered infertile, bringing about a change in Brazilian eating habits.^[8] According to Medina,^[9] Japanese foods are categorized by cooking method: yakimono (at grid), nimono (cooked), mushimono (steamed), abemono (cooked to table), agemono (breaded and fried) and sushi (raw). Rice can accompany each of these foods. The dishes served are varied in Japanese cuisine and served at the same time.

Japanese cuisine became popular in Brazil beginning in the 1980s, particularly in the national capital of Brasilia, where more than 300,000 people of Japanese descent live.^[6] However, it was only in the 90s that there grew to be strong Brazilian interest in Japanese cuisine, mainly because of its reputation as healthy, balanced and tasty.^[6] Sushi (rice covered with slices of raw fish) is so well known that it can be found in buffets, steakhouses, supermarkets, and retail shops by the kilo. In its early stages the demand for Japanese food seemed to be only a passing fad, but the current explosion of Japanese cuisine in São Paulo shows that Brazilians are increasingly interested in this food.^[6]

Tray of sushi

Data collected from ABRESI (Brazilian Association of Food, Hospitality and Tourism) in 2013 in São Paulo showed that there were 500-600 Japanese restaurants, producing 400,000 sushi meals per day. Thus, Ishige-san says that Brazil was one of the first foreign countries where Japanese cuisine became popular. "Single, refined, fast, natural gorgeous modern and low calorie"; so Medina ^[9] defines Japanese cuisine.

Japanese food turns fashionable in Brazil

A few years ago nobody could imagine that eating fish and cold sticky rice could become fashionable. What seemed strange to Brazilians became the favorite dish of many. Today we find Japanese restaurants everywhere in Brazil, and especially in São Paulo, it is difficult to find someone who has not experienced some typical dish of Japanese cuisine. Japanese cuisine is among us and it is no coincidence; after all, São Paulo is the State with the largest Japanese colony outside Japan. Such a restaurant is a big hit, especially among young people. Many people at first did not eat Japanese food from fear of the experience, but when they did experience it, many were keen to try it again, until you drop in the grace of flavor and therefore can no longer stop eating more. Besides pleasing the taste, Japanese cuisine also pleases the eye, because all the dishes are well made and beautiful to look at, with different colors. As Proença says,^[10] restaurants offering food from other countries tend to make changes and adjustments to the foods and may even create new versions for certain dishes, preserving some unique features. These changes and adjustments take place until the dishes suit consumer tastes. Examples of these modifications are the hot roll and the sushi, breaded and fried.^[11] However, this popularity was solidified with the opening of the first restaurant with option buffet free (caster). At reasonable prices, Brazilians today can experience sushi, sashimi, tempuras, shimeji and other Japanese dishes. The first restaurant opened with this system was in the early 90s, in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, named Mariko. In 1997, it was the turn of São Paulo, in the Itaim Bibi area in the Aoyama. In Japan there is no service carvery; there the closest to this model is the takehodai (fixed price).^[6] Another success, which also does not exist in Japan, is the temakerias, a fast food service that offers sushi wrapped in algae and with various fillings cone. The first was opened in Temakeria Vila Olimpia in 2003, the Temaki Express. Since then a taste for temakerias has appeared in São Paulo among those increasingly looking for this kind of service.^[6]

Temaki

Trivia

The first Japanese restaurant in São Paulo

Between the year 1920 and 1950, Japanese food in São Paulo was served only in pension houses for Orientals. The first such restaurant that began operating in the city of São Paulo was the Okina Sushi, with sushibar, which ran between 1950 and 1970, located at Furtado Advisor street in Liberdade. Until then eastern food was not much appreciated among those born in São Paulo.

From Liberdade to other neighborhoods: the first restaurant opened outside Liberdade

Before opening the first Japanese restaurant outside Liberdade, Kiyomi Watanabe worked with his parents as a fishmonger, when his main clients were the Japanese restaurants. In 1961, he met a restaurant owner who hired him as an assistant sushiman, and four years later opened his own restaurant, the "Suershiro", also in Liberdade. Only in 1981 did Kiyomi dare to open the first Japanese restaurant outside of Liberdade, Sushi Kiyo in the Bladder neighborhood (a popular neighborhood containing several Italian restaurants); his intention was to conquer the Brazilians with his Japanese food. His boldness worked, because 30 years later most of the restaurant's clientele consisted of westerners.

References