December

Unless you are a ski bunny or a masochist, there should be no doubt that winter is the worst of all months. Cold and wet, skies as ashen as the faces that wander the sun-starved streets, it is a miserable time; it is with good reason that the poet Christina Rosetti never penned ‘In the Bleak Mid-Summer.’ And yet, for many Japanese, this is their favorite season. It seems like madness. Unsurprisingly, if you know anything about Japanese culture, you’ll see why this is: food. Healthy, warming, and for the most part so hearty it could power steamships, winter food is something that many Japanese look forward to all year round, and with good reason. As it just so happens, in Nagoya, there are loads of places to get stuffed full of winter cheer, so put on your hat, coat and scarf, and indulge in the best seasonal food this fair city offers. Nabe (Hot-pot) Thanks to a lack of insulation coming as standard, Japanese homes get mighty chilly in winter, so any food around which the family can cozy up is a godsend. By quite some distance, the most popular winter dish is a hotpot style dish called nabe…