What is Japanese food? Sushi, or ramen, or kaiseki? What about Izakaya? Akiko Katayama, a Japanese native, New York-based food writer and director of the New Yo...
Our guest is Thomas Frebel who is the creative director at Noma https://noma.dk/. Noma is the famed restaurant in Copenhagen with numerous accolades, including three Michelin stars and The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ No.1 spot.Since its opening in 2003, Noma’s chef/owner René Redzepi has been inspiring the world through his strong philosophy of cooking with Nordic traditions and his never-ending pursuit of creativity. Noma’s landscape has reached far beyond Nordic countries and Redzepi and his team have been actively exploring various food cultures in the world, including Japan.Since Thomas joined Noma in 2009, he has been working closely with Chef Redzepi and served as the executive chef at Noma’s restaurant project in Tokyo called INUA. He joined us in Episode #338 and discussed his experience at INUA, Noma’s pop-up dinners in Kyoto in spring 2023 and many other topics.In this episode, Thomas is back to talk about Noma’s latest pop-up dinner in Kyoto that ran for 10 weeks from September to December 2024. He will share with us the new discoveries and flavor development by the Noma team in Kyoto, this time in the fall, and also what is the future of Noma going to be after the pop-up up and much, much more!!!
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How A Bowl Of Ramen Changed The Whole Life Of An American
Our guest today is Tim Anderson who is a chef and food writer based in London. Tim’s early interest in Japanese food led him to global adventures in L.A., Japan and the U.K. A bowl of ramen he encountered in L.A. fueled his passion for studying it and he moved to Fukuoka, Japan. Then he opened his ramen restaurants in the U.K. after winning the popular MasterChef competition on BBC One. Now he writes and communicates his insight into various aspects of Japanese food culture. It is remarkable and inspiring to see how Tim’s life unfolded into consecutive, unexpected lucky events through his interest in Japanese food. In this episode, we will discuss how Tim got into Japanese food, his life in Japan studying ramen and Japanese food culture, how he won the MasterChef competition with his Japanese food knowledge and skills, his excellent books that cover a variety of topics, including Nanban dishes and Hokkaido food culture and much, much more!!!
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The First Sake Brewery In The U.K. Promotes The True Market Value of Japanese Traditions
Our guest is Kumiko Hashimoto who grew up in the family of the 200-year-old sake brewery in Osaka. She now plays a key role at Dojima Sake Brewery https://fordhamabbey.co.uk/ near Cambridge in the U.K., which the family founded in 2018. Dojima Sake Brewery is the first sake brewery in the U.K. It is known not just for the quality of sake it produces but the scale of the project. The property is set in a historic, approximately 75-acre garden and pastureland. And its sake is priced far above the regular premium sake for a good reason. In this episode, we will discuss why the traditional sake brewery family decided to undertake such a huge, ambitious project, the joy and challenges of producing sake in Britain, the important mission of Dojima Sake Brewery for the entire sake industry and much, much more!!!
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Mandaracha In Kyoto: A Frenchman’s Quest For Japanese Tea
Our guest is Alexander Nicolau who is the founder of Mandaracha https://www.mandaracha.com/ in Kyoto, which opened in 2019. Originally from France, Alex fell in love with Japanese tea while he was working in the fields of food technology and open innovation.Mandaracha is a very special place where you can find a variety of Japanese tea, which Alex selected by visiting and meeting with each producer. You can also enjoy a tea ceremony and have other cultural experiences, such as a Shamisen guitar performance and a Rakugo comedy show.In this episode, we will discuss how Alex got into Japanese tea, why he loves Japanese tea so much, the classic and new types of Japanese tea Alex recommends, the rapidly changing tea market, the future of the Japanese tea industry and much, much more!!!Social Handles: IG kyoto_mandarachahttps://www.facebook.com/MANDARACHAhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/mandaracha/
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The Joy Of Making Soy Sauce With A Winery Partner in Bordeaux
And my guest today is Toshio Shinko who is the fifth-generation owner of Marushin Honke in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1881 and since then, it has produced high-quality traditional Japanese food products, such as miso and soy sauce. In 2002, in addition to managing Marushin Honke, Toshio founded the new company Yuasa Shoyu, or Yuasa Soy Sauce https://www.yuasasyouyu.co.jp/yuasa_gb_front.html in English to pursue the highest quality of soy sauce that reflects the family tradition.Preserving tradition is hard and even harder is to keep it fresh in response to the fast-changing environments. Toshio has been very successful in doing so and a great example is his innovative idea of making soy sauce in Bordeaux, France https://www.yuasasyouyu.co.jp/yuasa_gb.html in collaboration with the well-established Grand Cru winery Chateau Coutet in Saint Emilion.In this episode, we will discuss how Toshio’s company produces premium soy sauce with wood barrels, which is rare these days, how he came up with the idea of making soy sauce in the French wine country, why the French winery wants to make soy sauce with Toshio, how his Bordeaux-made soy sauce is different, why French chefs love using it and much, much more!!!Here is a fabulous YouTube video, that captures how Toshio makes soy sauce with the French partner Adrien David Beaulieu, the owner of Chateau Coutet and his team. https://www.marushinhonke.com/f/marushin(Scroll further down and click on “We want to spread Yuasa soy sauce to France!”)Here are some of the restaurants that uses Toshi’s Bordeaux-made soy sauce:· Maison nouvelle, Etchebest https://maison-nouvelle.fr/ · Lalique, Lafaurie Peyraguey Schilling https://www.lafauriepeyragueylalique.com/en/michelin-starred-chef-jerome-schilling-unveils-his-autumn-menu/ · Skiff Club, Stéphane Carrade https://haaitza.com/les-restaurants-cafe-bar-brasserie-restaurant-etoile-arcachon/ · Le Prince Noir, Vivien Durand https://leprincenoir-restaurant.fr/ · L opidom etoilé Fondette https://www.lopidom.fr/fr/
What is Japanese food? Sushi, or ramen, or kaiseki? What about Izakaya? Akiko Katayama, a Japanese native, New York-based food writer and director of the New York Japanese Culinary Academy, tells you all about real Japanese food and food culture. With guests ranging from sake producers with generations of experience to American chefs pushing the envelope of Japanese gastronomy, Japanese cuisine is demystified here!
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