(While the sweet potato, delicata and Brussels sprouts come up to speed on the woodstove as the sun creeps up the half naked treeline)
A customer recently asked me ”Do you have daikon“ (in the produce department)? I wasn’t sure, things come and go, we can order things, checked with my manager. Turns out we could, he’d have to order “a case” (which varies in size depending on item, farm, packer etc.) and we’d take his number, call him when it came in.
He was asking because, as a recent transplant from Atlanta with an established Korean community, he couldn’t find decent kimchi. Yup, welcome to DownEast…. So he’s gonna make his own and we chat a bit about it, then move on with our days.
The other day while stocking I noticed some came in, a case regarding this item had three in it, about the size of a smallish adult forearm. My brain immediately went to this
This is a scene from a storied anime film Spirited Away. A daikon radish god has come to the bath house of the gods (not sure why as we don’t see it soak, but that’s an aside…) and rides the elevator. It’s a crucial scene as the protagonist works her way up the building to ask for a job, ultimately leading to finding her parents.
A couple of days ago I saw him in the store and declared “We have daikon!” He smiled, then admitted to making a cannonball run to Boston to get some. Betcha that’s not all picked up…. I asked him if he had ever seen the film Spirited Away, was aware of the daikon radish god, while I made the motion of its movement and the funny squeaky noise it makes with every step.
“OF COURSE!” he replied , adding that it was about to be rereleased in theaters in 4K. I beamed!
Food is amazing stuff, it certainly binds humanity…
