Note B — EARLY SUMMER IN JAPAN
Reading edition
“Daikon” is a large kind of white radish, which is boiled and cut in strips and served as a savor with every meal; it is very tough, and both the smell and the flavor are repulsive. A well-known Yokohama poet has written some verses on the subject, which show a great knowledge of culinary French, and a rooted dislike to the vegetable which is shared by most foreigners. It commences in this way:
Cook loquitur (gently). Won’t daikon do To stew With carrots and a bean or two? Methinks ’twould give a savor rare To cutlets à la Financière. Won’t daikon do? Master (decisively). No—daikon will not do!