Rokkasho International Cultural Exchange Fair

Greetings and salutations. Spring grows ever closer and we continue to hope that each snowfall is going to be the last... However knowing what kind of a fickle  cruel and downright strange lady Mother Nature is, I'm not holding my breath.This weekend I (along with fellow Winnipeg JET Dana) had agreed to help my Rokkasho-living Vancouverite friends Ashley and Thomas make up Team Canada for the Rokkasho International Cultural Exchange Fair. Dana and I were tasked with preparing a dish to bring along to represent our Motherland. Oh Canada, you and your cultural mosaic... I really need to learn how to explain that in Japanese, as I am often asked what 'Canadian Food' is and am at a loss... So if someone could help me out and lemmie know how to say "Canada is made up of people from many different countries all over the world and the food is simply a variation of that which was brought along with the people when they immigrated" that would be super good. Cuz saying 'poutine and butter-tarts' just isn't going to cut it for me. 

I opted to make a food that I have been craving for quite some time, so my contribution was kinda selfish that way... I made Manitoba-style Perogies (which got a strange look from the girl from the Russian booth when she came by to check out what we had to offer...) aka cheese and potato gyoza. This was my first time ever making them, so I was a little worried they might not turn out... Thankfully I was supplied with a recipe that would have been impossible to fudge up and am quite good at smashing potatoes, kneading dough (I'd forgotten how cathartic that is...) and grating cheese. 

Thomas told me to expect over 200 people, so I made cute little bite sized ones cut out with a small drinking glass. I think the only thing I would do differently next time is to stuff the perogies are little more fully, that dough is helluv stretchy!

As you can see, they turned out pretty damn great. The only thing missing is some kubasa and sour cream... I don't know that I can fully convey how happy I was to find cheddar cheese at the Universe grocery store in Towada and didn't have to drive all the way to the Shimoda Mall (40mis away, in optimal conditions). Dana made up bannock with raisins and cinnamon, and Thomas and Ashley did up some chocolate chip pancakes... in a takoyaki maker... so, they were balls of pancakes with a large chocolate chip inside. Oh lordy were they good. Great food all around! Woo woo! We also had some maple syrup, (for the pancakes... and a bizarre drink made with the addition of the following two ingredients) Canada Dry Ginger Ale (which some Japanese folks thought was alcoholic) and some Canadian Club Whiskey. 

Now, Rokkasho is not all that far away from me, as you can see here. There's even a new expressway being built (however, because it has not been completed, it is not on Google Maps yet). Anyway, I started my journey on the 394 through Tohoku and was greeted by mad gusting winds and white out conditions. Ever play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time? Ya know the path trough the Haunted Wasteland, where you run from red-flagged-post to red-flagged-post and eventually get to the outpost where you have to follow the Poe using the lens of Truth? Yeah, it was like that, only with short posts to follow along the side of the road that were sometimes swallowed by snow banks and nary a Poe nor Lens of Truth to help me find my way. I called Thomas and told him I was going to be late, because I couldn't see the much past the end of my car when the gusting wind blew a whole farmer's field's worth of snow into the road. That's when he told me about the alternate route (which would not only be faster, but it would be a bigger road (probably with 2 lanes) and divided so I didn't have to keep cursing the folks who were tearing down the middle of the road and swerving to avoid me at the last minute. Back from whence I came and then down the major highway. Not only did the middle of the road oncoming traffic stop, but there were much more barricades to break up the white outs near empty farmer's fields. Success. I mean, I had to make the trip, what the hell was I going to do with over 200 perogies. Yes, I love them, but jeebus. That's a bit much, even for me.

BR: Kyoko wearing the purple kimono.
FR: Juliann 1st on the left, Jenny, Ashley and Thomas is 2nd from the end. 

Dana and I set up cooking in the large kitchen area and prepped our dishes while Ashley, Thomas and our two Japanese assistants (Yuki, in the booth pictured in the booth above...) manned the booth and made up the chocolate chip pancakes. The girls from my visit to the Towada Snow Festival were part of Team America, so I got to see them again. Eventually it was time for Ashley, Thomas and the lovely Kyoko to take part in the play. It was a modified version of "Mito Komon," mixed with "Baka Tono" (Youtube it, I couldn't find a Wiki page for it). Amusing, but I'm afraid I couldn't really follow it, Thomas even got to sing in it. Hahaha.

Can ya find me?

Good turn out and representation of various countries, including (but not limited to), Canada, Russia, Korea, China, India, Italy, Spain, France and the US. Lots of folks came through the Fair, too, which was awesome considering how shite the weather was in the morning. Thankfully, the drive back to Shichinohe was a pleasent one and I even had some perogies left over to treat myself to. Yaaaaaay!