Passion for flavour, respect for culture
The Land of the Rising Sun is an island paradise blessed with the most diverse, exotic citrus fruit. Citrus trees are everywhere you look and they decorate the landscape with their colourful round fruit, shiny leaves and delicate aroma. When it comes to Japan and citrus, most people’s minds first jump to yuzu. However, there…
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Recently, I was introduced to several different citruses from Japan and in particular two of the citrus products caught my eye. One of them is buntan (the pomelo of japan) and the second is kinatsu (bitter orange). Through research, I found a lot of interesting facts about Kōchi prefecture that I thought you might be…
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In the previous article called “Tea – The Exiled Emperor Discovery” we spoke about the history of the tea and how it shaped the world we know today. Tea has influenced and changed the world in more ways than we could have imagined, with the aforementioned countries having the biggest influence. In this article we…
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In the previous article we detailed the development of tea flavour profiles, specifically, Japanese and Chinese Green teas, White tea, and rare Yellow tea. All teas are lightly oxidised which gives them their delicate aromas and flavours. Today we are going to delve into fully oxidised teas such as Black, and Pu’Erh tea. Each of…
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Lately, I have been invited to create beverage programs to compliment Chinese cuisines and although I have lived in Asia and come across the Chinese style of dining I still have a lot to learn about the culture. Living in Singapore for almost six years has definitely exposed me to the culture in more depth…
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When I was growing up and started learning about different cuisines, I fell in love with sushi. Not only for the Eastern mystery of unknown culture and ceremony in its way but mainly for the chef’s respect to each ingredient used to make the little nibble full of incredible history and flavour. The gentle, unexpected,…
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My step-daughter is allergic to peanuts. Therefore my favourite nibbles/snacks are not that common in our house. When we like to add some nutty flavour into dishes when we cook, we always have to look to other flavor substitutes. One of our favourite has become sesame seeds. Sesame seeds are not only healthy, but you…
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A few weeks ago, I was shopping in a wet market and I picked up a fruit thinking it was a tomato. I did not pay attention to it as I was in a rush, but when I got home and started cooking I realized my mistake. And so it was in this manner which…
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In one of the previous articles introducing pomelo we talked about four original citrus fruits on the planet and here’s another one of them – the mandarin. Mandarin played a big role in hybridization as it is the only sweet citrus fruit out of all ‘original four citrus fruits.’ The mandarin orange is the most…
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Yukari Sakamoto 坂本ゆかり Author of Food Sake Tokyo (The Little Bookroom) Born in Tokyo and raised on the shores of Lake Wobegon, Yukari Sakamoto trained as a chef and baker at the French Culinary Institute. Following that she trained as a sommelier at The American Sommelier Association and worked as a sommelier at the New…
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