Monthly Memo From Doi's Culinary Philosophy
Original text by Doi Yoshiharu
Translated by Yoshiko Fukuda
May- Satsuki
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●In a season of young green buds and pleasant weather, I ask myself what I would like to eat. Because I deal with food in my profession, these moments are very significant. The changing seasons become something oblivious to those who live in the cities, because their senses are not keen to subtle environmental changes. Hence, I feel it is crucial for a Japanese cuisine chef to consciously place himself in nature and breath in the air to take in each season.
At traditional Japanese restaurants, from May 5th or Rikka (refer to May 1999 issue of Monthly Memo) it is officially summer in the calendar. Thus, in menus at restaurants, spring ingredients disappear at once paving the way for summer ingredients. Usually suikuchi (something that adds aroma or an extra flavor to dishes) is changed to green yuzu, a Japanese citron, and prime seasonal ingredient is switched to eggplants from bamboo shoots.
●In May, egg plants that are sold in markets are all made in greenhouses. Eggplants genuinely grown under the sun do not start appearing until June. Egg plants grown outside will bear one egg plant when the sapling grows to be about 70 to 80 cm. That first egg plant is the "hatsunari" egg plant.
I have written before that every hatsunari vegetable whether it is tomato or cucumber, is especially delicious. However, that was when I instinctively sensed that hatsunari vegetables were appetizing, not knowing the reasons behind the strange attraction. But now that I know why, I can finally explain the logic behind hatsunari vegetables.
I compared the picture that I took a while ago of a June hatsunari egg plant with another picture of normal egg plant from August when the peak for egg plant production was. The difference was appalling. The hatsunari was rough and bumpy, with thick calyx covering the top of the vegetable. In another word, the effort is obvious, that the plant used up all its energy and produced this one egg plant.
It is another story for egg plants in August. The sapling grows to be even taller than an adult human being and it stretches about the same length sideways. Egg plants that grew in clusters are now slender and their calyx thinner, giving off an impression that they matured with ease. Their taste is obviously contrary as their appearances demonstrate. The hatsunari is densely packed with rich flavor in its impressive swelling body. Whereas, the slimmer egg plant is simple and sappy in taste.
My uncle from Takamatsu who used to do everything in his power to eat delicious things, always said that hatsunari water melons were the best and bought copious amount of them during summer.●At Ajiichii, starting this year we stopped using egg plants in May. That is because we wanted to make use of June egg plants when they get ripe and delicious as a whole. Another goal is an attempt to bring back what is shun (in season)and incorporate them into our menus. A true understanding of Japanese shun is getting lost throughout the years.
During this period, kinome will be changed , replaced from sanshou flower to seed, directly following the seasonal changes. This is what shun was supposed to be like. However, because Japanese people favor having hashirimono (seasonal vegetable that comes out earlier than the rest) at their table, the farmers began competing who could distribute seasonal vegetable the earliest. And that made the real shun extremely obscure since vegetables began circulating the market much earlier than their expected time. Moreover, some vegetables are now produced all year round making it harder for buyers to distinguish what is shun, hashiri, and "nagori" (also in May 1999 issue of Monthly memo).
That is why at Ajiichii we make it our motto to serve food with true shun ingredients.●If one knows seasonal shun tastes, he can obtain the most delicious and healthy ingredients that are out in the market. Even from an economic point of view that is the smart way to shop. However, in the produce section at markets, it is becoming harder to figure out what is shun.
At markets, what is shun seems to be determined by what is produced the most during the period, but not necessarily seasonal reasons. The produce department relies heavily on what was cheaper to purchase from farmers, who in turn grew vegetables according to what was cheaper and easy to produce in mass amounts. Thus what is shun in nature according to the season is not necessarily clear at markets.
●Then how are we to recognize what are the shun ingredients without relying on the market? There is a very simple way to separate the real from the artificial shun. In order to do so, one must picture seasonal sceneries in Japan.Like I have said before, Spring is blooming with young buds. That is clearly because in Spring new life arise and start to thrive everywhere. Therefore shun ingredients from Spring is mostly young buds of edible plants, like bamboo shoots, asparagus, and wild mountain plants like the flower stalk of butterbur and young shoots of a field horsetail. Those new life were enchanted by the warm sun to spring right out and grow straight up to the skies. Thus, when in doubt eat young buds during spring.
Around the same flowering period, vegetables of the vine family like peas and string beans start spreading outwards. But those plants will grow at a rapider speed during the rainy period right before summer, along with other ripening vegetables such as water melon and pumpkin.
Under the burning sun, succulent vegetables like eggplants, cucumbers, and tomatoes retain as much water as possible. It is greatly convenient for us too but the adaptation is actually for the plants themselves. They hold enough water and nutrients for their own future descendents, the seeds. By containing moisture, the seeds will not dry up. Shun vegetables during the summer are ripened fruitful vegetables.
Subsequently fertile autumn arrives. Big trees will be flourishing with fruits and nuts. Imagine a season of glowing red apples and chestnuts, a scenery filled with autumnal colors. It is also the harvesting time for root vegetables like taro and sweet potatoes. The stem of zuiki ( the leaf part of sweet potatoes) that were eaten during the summer will fatten its roots.
Autumn leaves will fall to the ground and the trees that occupied our scenery looks rather bare, stripped of its colorful clothing. On the ground multiple green colors disappear and brown uncovered soil is exposed through fallen browned leaves and branches. During winter, there is nothing above ground that catches our eyes but under ground copious vegetables are storing in the nutrients to prepare for the next life to come. Numerous root vegetables such as lotus root, burdock root, carrots, and white radish spent their winter underground patiently waiting and fattening up its roots.We have been eating ingredients that prospered the most during a specific time, and ate life itself at the zenith of each vegetables growth. That is what eating shun ingredient is all about. The most nutritious and the most beneficial ingredient of all. That is shun.
Picture each season's features. That is the way to determine what ingredients are shun and what should be eaten during a specific season.●Some people say that there is no more shun since human beings now have obtained enough knowledge and technology to control different harvesting seasons. However this statement is surely erroneous. Shun savors can only be created by the hands of nature and humans will never have the power to produce the same kind of shun qualities.
●According to a survey taken by the Diet and Health branch of Japanese Co-op, more than half of the Japanese population said they will definitely be unhealthy if they continue to maintain their current eating habits. About 70 % of the people younger than 30 felt dissatisfied with their daily diet.
In an agricultural report released in April by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery stated that children relied on school lunches for nutrition compared to the meals provided at home. In a research to investigate the condition of children's diet revealed that children lacked in calcium, iron and other proteins more on weekends compared to the weekdays when they were served school lunches.
I see more articles like this one warning the children's health conditions. However, I still do not have an understanding for this kind of situation because in my mind home cooking should be the essential source of nutrients for growing kids.●The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced a numerical target for healthy body in their project "Healthy Japan 21". Furthermore, in an attempt to correct the unbalanced nutrition intake and wasteful eating habits, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery is urging the citizens to reevaluate their eating habits.
This shows how dangerous the situation can be in the future.
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