At this time of the year it seems inappropriate to talk about food that's not chocolate — but word is getting out that women have begun to regard the giving and getting of chocolate on you-know-what-day as, like, totally kakkowarui (カッコわるい, uncool). Which is why I feel justified in shifting my consideration from cacao to a more important meal matter, namely that of Japanese karē (カレー, curry).

Karē is an entirely different concoction from the curry found elsewhere in the world. Imported from India in the Meiji Era (1868-1912), it was initially a staple dish in military school shokudō (食堂, cafeterias), where it was introduced due to it being easy to make, high in nutrition and served all in one shallow bowl.

The term "karē" evolved from the word karai (辛い, hot or spicy) and, conveniently enough, that sounded a lot like "curry" to the Japanese ear. Karē was enthusiastically embraced by the Imperial Japanese Army: It slashed time and energy spent feeding the troops by dispensing with the fussy rice-bowl paraphernalia of traditional Japanese fare. The custom of dunking the spoon used to eat it into a glass of water before serving was a military one meant to eliminate the need for napkins; the idea was to lift the spoon out of the glass, dig it into the karē bowl and shovel karē into the mouth in a nonstop and very efficient motion. As soon as the bowl contained no trace of karē, soldiers were expected to drain the glass in a single gulp and get back to soldiering.