Death of Mr. Noodle
On January 9th, 2007, Momofuko Ando passed away outside of Osaka, Japan.
In 1958, this heroic inventor single-handedly created the instant ramen noodle - an instant success (pun, regretfully, intended). Flying in the face of all commonly-held medical wisdom about MSG, Mr. Ando enjoyed a bowl of instant ramen every day for lunch up until his death at an impressive 96 years old.
There's a special place in culinary heaven for this gentleman - even now, he's probably being gentled ushered to it by six generations of poor-but-sated college students.
Ramen noodles have earned Mr. Ando an eternal place in the pantheon of human progress. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Give him ramen noodles, and you don’t have to teach him anything. (Lawrence Downes, New York Times)
A very, very sad loss indeed. I noted the somber occasion last weekend with flavor packets hoisted at half mast in a moment of silence. And while his company's once mighty brand has fallen somewhat in esteem (the mantle of instant ramen has be wrested by the Koreans who deserve our respect), Mr. Momofuko Ando has forever left his firm imprimatur upon the world's culinary history.
Posted by: The Guilty Carnivore | January 12, 2007 at 06:24 PM
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=807
Posted by: Jared | January 13, 2007 at 08:55 AM