consist of (v) to be made up of
e.g. Niku jaga consists of potato, meat, carrot, konyaku and sauce.
solely (adv) only
e.g. I am solely responsible for the contents of my website.
accompaniment (n) something that goes together with something else
e.g. 柿の種 is a great accompaniment to beer
if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it (phrase) if something is already working well, you do not need to change it
e.g. おかあさんといっしょ has been broadcast for fifty years. I wonder why they don’t change the format or the program? If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it.
staple (adj) basic and important to everyone’s lives
e.g. Potato and rice are common staple food in the world.
Last May, when making my second menu, I realized that it would be very difficult to do menus that consist solely of English food. So, I decided to make menus with food that was either English or that was not very common to people in Japan.
One thing that I loved to cook with in England was couscous. I first cooked it when I was at university. To be honest, the version that I cooked in May was pretty much the same as the one I cooked at university. It was a kind of couscous salad that can be used as an accompaniment to a main course, instead of potato or rice. But as people say “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
It is a staple dish in parts of the Middle East, north Africa and southern Europe. It is made from semolina wheat which is cracked and covered in wheat flour. It takes a long time to cook “real” couscous, the version that is available in most food shops is pre-steamed and then dried. You can buy it at most major import food shops in Japan. Please let me know if anyone buys some.
