The Sydney Morning Herald

Tempura or tapas?

Tempura embodies qualities Japanese cooks hold dear: fresh ingredients, precision cooking and beautiful presentation. It also exemplifies the uncanny ability of the Japanese to absorb outside influences - in this case, from the Iberian peninsula - and mould them into new constructs that are very much their own. The idea of frying fish and seafood in a light batter came to Japan with Jesuit missionaries in the 16th century. (12/05) More