The Culinary History of Osaka

Kitchen of Japan

Osaka is sometimes called “the kitchen of Japan” because of the culinary history of Osaka. Sushi is a mainstay of this kitchen of Japan, though you may also find other traditional Osaka dishes such as the udon noodles, the octopus dumplings dubbed takoyaki, and the fried batter cake called okonomiyaki. Of course, no discussion of the culinary history of Osaka can bypass the importance of the staple gohan (or white Japanese rice.)

Dining etiquette

Japanese who are well-versed in the culinary history of Osaka know their dining etiquette quite well. One important part of dining etiquette is to use your chopsticks appropriately. Never stick your chopsticks  vertically into your rice bowl and leave it standing there because it resembles incense sticks in sand  burning for the dead. You should refrain from biting on your chopsticks. You should also avoid ever passing food using your chopsticks into another person’s chopsticks.