Even people who don’t know of SMAP are probably aware of Lady Gaga. This global diva appeared on a TV program hosted by Japanese pop group SMAP where she enjoyed fusion dishes of Japanese and Italian cuisine.
On the program, two teams of SMAP members each served a dish they had created themselves to see which dish Lady Gaga enjoyed the most. One dish was shabu-shabu pasta served with spicy sesame sauce and the other dish was sakura shrimp, prawn, and Italian tempurasoba topped with oba no kakiage (deep fried green shiso leaves). Lady Gaga, who enjoyed both dishes, declared the shabu-shabu dish victorious over the tempurasoba dish in which the tentsuyu (thin dipping sauce for tempura) was served as a mousse.
Lady Gaga’s father, who runs an Italian Restaurant in New York, also made an appearance and declared the dish “delicious” and something he would like to “add to his store’s menu”. The comments common to both Lady Gaga and her father – “healthy and delicious” – suggest this is characteristic of Japanese food. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the number of Japanese restaurants worldwide has grown from approximately 24,000 in 2006 to 55,000 in 2013 at a compounded annual growth rate of 12.6%. The food of Japan, the country boasting the world’s highest life expectancy, has been praised as “healthy and delicious” around the world.
However, there are still only few Halal-certified Japanese restaurants. Although Japanese food using agricultural and marine products is considered easy to make Halal, consumers require Japanese restaurants to take the extra step to obtain Halal certification. This is because the food Lady Gaga ate on the program was Halal itself.
