No Ovens

We love food.

We love cooking.

However, we live in Japan.

That means, "no oven."

The average Japanese domicile does not have an oven, unless it's a little toaster oven. I've had friends tell me how they were able to perform impressive feats of baking in those little toaster ovens, but for me it takes all the joy out of big-oven baking.



One of the wonderful things about food in Japan are the ingredients. There are lots of locally grown ingredients you'd never find off the island, and which wouldn't last long in shipment.

We enjoy alot of the American Food Network shows that feature beautiful dishes that really require a proper oven to cook. But ovens have never been a part of the Japanese/East Asian culinary culture, and with the diminutive homes here, even if I did manage to wedge an oven in here somehow, the entire house would be super-heated in no time. Most homes don't even have space for dishwashers.

So for the time being, I'll have to be content with the excellent bakeries that abound and hope I can someday afford a big enough house to accommodate a proper oven.