Japanese Culinary Fellowship Workshop (October 17, 2010)

Transcription

1 Japanese Culinary Fellowship Workshop (October 17, 2010) Organizer: Japanese Culinary Academy, Non Profit Organization Co-organizers: Umami Information Center, Non Profit Organization Organization to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad, Non Profit Organization As a closing program of the 7 th Japanese Culinary Fellowship, a public workshop was held at Kyoto Culinary Art College on October 17, The Japanese Culinary Academy (JCA), since its establishment in 2004, has been organizing fellowship and exchange programs for young overseas chefs on a regular basis with the goals of encouraging development of Japanese cuisine and its global dissemination. This year s fellowship marks the third year collaborated with UIC, and four promising chefs, working in Brazil and the USA participated to enhance their knowledge about Kyoto cuisine through an integrated approach. The course included training in the kitchens at some of the finest traditional restaurants in the country, visiting agricultural producers, food market, kombu and sake producers, cookware shops and cultural affairs such as tea ceremony and Japanese zen garden. In a nutshell, the program was designed to develop the chefs overall knowledge about the nature, customs and traditions that have characterized Japan s culinary culture. The public workshop was scheduled for the final day of the fellowship program. Each chef was asked to create dishes that were inspired by what they had learned in the program. The venue was filled with several hundreds of participants and TV crews from NHK, Japan s national broadcast station. The guest of honor, Kunimitsu Masui, chief of food industry department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), broke the ice with his congratulatory address. Knowing many challenges and changes of JCA to expand its activities, he extended his congratulations for the 7th anniversary. He also reported that MAFF launched annual award for prominent chefs because social status of chefs in Japan is not high enough for their true worth. Following the opening speech by Yoshihiro Murata, chairperson of JCA, the workshop commenced with four chefs demonstrations. 1

2 1. Alex Atala (D.O.M., São Paulo, Brazil) Omnivorous, Root-Flower-Fruits Chef Atala allotted more than half of his time to explain his philosophy which underlay his dish. Imagine that you were a carnivorous tourist who came across a nice B-B-Q smell in Tibet, a vegetarian country. When you get closer in expectation of something delicious, you encounter with a cremation. No local shows appetite for the smell. Smell of burning meat doesn t arouse appetite in Tibet. This story tells us that the value of a dish is determined in the context of each culture. While he broiled soy sauce marinated beef tenderloin, Alex talked about white miso. Even though it was his first experience to taste it, the flavor reminded him of something familiar from his childhood. Using its versatility, he made his special sauce with caramel and garnished tenderloin with sansho leaves (Japanese pungent herb), chives and a sprinkle of salt. Corns and soybeans are used for feed of cow: cow produces fresh cream for caramel: and we human eat them all. Thus, he named it Omnivorous. The second dish, Root Flower Fruit, embodied his philosophy; harmony of nature and human life. Moreover, with ambition to contribute to raise Amazonian living standards by boosting the use of Amazonian local products, he used priprioca, root of Brazilian local fruit. He made a transparent jelly from it and arranged nashi (Japanese pear) as a fruit. Assorted petals of fresh chrysanthemum and orange kinmokusei flowers preserved in liquor turned his dish into a beautiful autumn Japanese garden. 2

3 2. Daniel Redend (Mani, São Paulo, Brazil) ~Shrimp soup, Sansho smoked prawn and autumn vegetable salad with vanilla aroma Born in Spain, Chef Redend started his career at El Celler de Can Roca at the age of fifteen where he worked as a chief cook for eight years out of his consecutive thirteen years of service. He met Helena Rizzo at Roca, married to her and chose to move in Helena s home country, Brazil. In 2004, the chef couple opened their restaurant, Mani. In this program, Daniel applied sansho in two ways. He used sansho powder for smoking prawns skewered with a vanilla pod. Since no one, even Japanese chefs in the site, have never imagined smoking shrimp with sansho, Daniel s way of thinking inspired everyone. For soup, he simmered heads of shrimps with tomatoes and garlic inspired by Spanish gazpacho, and finished with sansho seasoned miso. For Salad, he filled a ring mold with julienne Kyoto radish and diced persimmon and topped with baby leaves, gingko nuts slightly sweetened with honey, petals of two color edible chrysanthemum and shiso flower. Removing the ring gently, he sprinkled vanilla oil, slow-pressed essential sesame oil and roasted sesame on it. He showed sophisticated technique to harmonize various aromas such as vanilla, sansho and variety of oils. He concluded his presentation with his impression on Japanese cuisine, an artwork that integrates exquisite ingredients on a carefully selected dishware. 3

4 3.Helena Rizzo (Mani, Sao Paulo, Brazil) ~TOFU FLAN~ Chef Rizzo got an idea of this recipe on the first day of the training program at the family-run tofu manufacturer. Freshness of soy milk and the process of solidifying tofu surprised her. Light, healthy and gentle taste was also impressive for her. In her interpretation, she added her original flavor with tonka beans, Brazilian and Amazonian seeds. Tonka beans has so impressive flavor that is why cosmetic industry use them either. She flattened fig meat smoothly in the wrap, layered it with two kind of jelly; pomegranate and jabuticaba for sourness with a pinch of flour from Daitokuji Natto (fermented black bean) for saltiness. Yuba grilled in very low temperature for two hours added nice crunchy texture. Her presentation was nothing but an art on a canvas of a plate. Finished with golden foil on the top of a scoop of tofu flan, she captured the moon floating in the sky jeweled with autumn leaves and fruits. Similar to Alex, she found somewhat nostalgic taste in soy but her creation was quite different from his. Soy milk is so delicate that even professional tofu manufacturers face challenges everyday in keeping their standards. Helena also had a tough time to come up with her tofu with perfect texture but she achieved it with passion and perseverance. As the first female chef in the fellowship program, she enchanted the gallery with her decisiveness and beautiful smile. 4. Douglas Keane (Cyrus, Sonoma, CA, USA) Abalone with Cauliflower, Uni and Dashi Gelée Graduated from School of Hotel Administration of Cornell University, Chef Keane acquired experience in Washington DC., New York and San Francisco. He opened his restaurant Cyrus which was rated very high in no time. In his presentation, he mentioned that using dashi was his staple. Combination of variety of 4

5 kombu, katsuobushi (dried bonito) and magurobushi (dried tuna), was his staple. He steamed wild abalone which was not available in California very carefully for three hours in a vacuum bag with slight sake. His carefully prepared three sides, cauliflower puree, uni (sea urchin) mouse and dashi gelée were all equally excellent. Here is how dashi gelée was prepared. He used ichiban dashi (first brewed dashi) as a base of the gelée and seasoned it with authentic Japanese ingredients such as ginger, sake, sudachi citrus, mirin (sweet rice wine) and white soy sauce. He even infused shiso leaves for a couple of minutes into the dashi and strained. By combining sourness of citrus and bitterness of abalone liver, he brought forth a world of umami in a single dish. His warm and deliberate hospitality makes his customers feel very comfortable at his restaurant. Japanese people tend to be naturally considerate to other people s feelings and points of view. It s evident that Douglas has the quintessence of Japanese hospitality in his nature. (Tasting Plates) 5. Panel Discussion Following tasting the dishes created by the fellows, a panel discussion was carried out. Moderator: Dr Toru Fushiki, professor of Kyoto University Graduate School Panelists: Alex Atala, Danielle Redonde, Helena Rizzo, Douglas Keane, Luiz Americo (Executive editor, O Estadode S. Paulo) (Chefs from left, Alex, Helena, Daniel and Douglas) 5

6 Lecture on Umami (October 16, 2010) Prior to the public workshop, as a part of the fellowship training program, the umami lecture, supported by the Umami Information Center was held on Saturday, October 16. In addition to four fellows, Harold McGee, Ph.D, food and science writer, and Mr. Luiz Americo, executive editor, O Estadode S. Paulo kindly joined in the lecture. What particularly remarkable about this session was that there were two tables divided by the languages of their preferences; one for English with Dr. Kumiko Ninomiya and the other for Japanese with Dr. Shintaro Yoshida where Portuguese and Spanish interpretation were also provided. As a result, it was more interactive than any previous umami lectures. Starting with cherry tomatoes to recognize umami, cured ham and two kinds of Gauda cheese classified by aging were served on two tables. Yes, tasting was believing. Active conversation about updated information on umami livened up over the tables. Though the participants were already familiar with umami concept compared to the past, this allotted time for presentation was not enough to conclude active conversation. Three bottles of sample of ichiban dashi (first infused dashi) from famous ryotei kitchens perfected their understanding on dashi and umami. Last but not least, special thanks to Japanese chefs:chef Murata and chef Shimoguchi for their participation in this workshop as very dependable observers. Especially, all participants were very impressed by their expertise when they identified which kitchen three unlabelled dashi came from. Lecture Room Three types of Ichiban dashi 6