Maybe it’s an age thing, but I find myself constantly drawn to the idea of making a mindful connection to food, its provenance and its final destination. Whether it be farm-to-fork or nose-to-tail, I’m hungered to know where my food has come from, how it’s grown and if it is sustainable. I don’t just need the meal, I want the story!
This story began over 40 years ago with a 4-year old Jas watching in awe as his grandparents worked the kitchen of Waitaki girls boarding school, South island of New Zealand. Becoming more conscious of making these connections has rekindled nostalgic moments, hearing my Nanas words over and over,” you are what we eat”. In my younger years I didn’t care too much for this saying; being a pumpkin or a mushroom didn’t really interest me, but now it is everything.
So what does this all have to do with a trip to Japan and some King Salmon from New Zealand? Everything.
Being acknowledged as the Australian Ambassador 2017 by Ōra King Salmon was very near and dear to my heart. The ethos of Ōra King resonates with my personal beliefs of sustainability, community values, and finding growth through the act of giving. Chefs wear many hats, of which mentoring is one, and maybe the one I feel most comfortable in.
I wear it with pride knowing that I am passing on knowledge, maintaining classical traditions, really engaging and nurturing our future chefs. Knowing how our food is grown, harvested and preserved is key to allowing the authenticity of our trade to survive, as is the philosophy of wasting nothing.
Our trip to Japan was definitely a reminder of this. I mean who doesn’t love eating undercooked, chargrilled chicken offal (my first and definitely last time). It may not sound appetising but it certainly reflects the way we should leverage an entire animal for food. Sometimes you need a trip out of your comfort zone to truly engage what goes on in the world. It is in this space that we are inspired and find courage to break our own (bad) habits. We need all to be leaders and champion the shameful wastage of food.
The Ōra King marketing team put together the most incredible itinerary of mind-opening opportunities. It kicked off briskly at 4am one morning with a trip to the Tsujki Tokyo fish market. Most definitely a highlight: vast quantities of fish, sea creatures and bits (lots of bits)… most of which stretched the definition of the term “delicacy“. #codsperm.
The auctioning of live and frozen tuna was insanely fast, the energy was hypnotic, and I’m pretty sure we were all caught up in the hype….. the faces, the produce, the tones, the excitement, the chaos; the well orchestrated thumping of a Japanese fish market. It left me hungry for more.
From here on in, Japan continued to enthrall. It lured us into its deep-seeded traditions and cultural history. From Kintsugi (the Japanese art of breathing new life into broken ceramics with a gold, silver or platinum mixed lacquer) to the hills above Saitama where we were immersed in the history of Yamaki Jozo.
My initial introduction to Yamaki Jozo occured 7 months earlier at the Gault&Millau, Mise en Place event in Sydney. It just so happened that my young Ōra King NextGen Chef, Sarah Maunder, and I were looking for elements to incorporate into her Japanese-inspired dish which was presented in Melbourne the following month. The product set up from Fino foods piqued our interest and once we heard the story behind Yamaki Jozo soy….we were sold.
Roll forward 7 months. Here I was, pinching myself as I stood in the very place that I had heard about – the house of Yamaki Jozo. I had the opportunity to talk with one of only 2 people responsible for the tending to the shoyu barrels. He was the wise apprentice to the master, imbued with the age-long knowledge of the shoyu fermentation process, happy to share and at the age of 80 years, held his position with pride. I was 17 when I started my apprenticeship. Given the chance to witness and then to personally press and bottle unpasteurized fermented soy was just another reminder that I will always be an apprentice, with a hunger to learn every day. To give you an idea of why I found this experience so awesome – the shoyu tasting. Wow! The flavor profile is so deep and rich with umami. We all agreed that soy up to this point tastes like black salty water in comparison.
This trip to Japan was much needed. It offered rare moments that really defined and added layers to my love of food and our industry. I have come away reignited with my inherent desire to preserve these age old practices. To share this with a community of like-minded people who care about something in its purest form, and who work together to maintain such tradition is timeless ……ageless.
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