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View Full Version : Tis the season for matsutake, fa, la, la, la, la, la



Neil Yamamoto
31st October 2000, 04:18
My mother is trying to turn me into a fat bastard. My brothers are well on the way.

Had my first matsutake of the year last night in matsutake gohan. Three large rice bowls is now my limit. Japanese in the motherland pay extreme prices for matsutake, I get it free by going and wandering in the woods on my uncles property. Even had fresh shrimp from my uncles beachfront with the matsutake gohan and the night before, crab cakes made from my uncles freshly caught crab.

So, the point I guess is Matsutake is valued so highly for the seasonality it represents. Feelings of fall, etc..
Many of the so called delicacies are used to invoke the sentiment of the seasons. What kind of Japanese foods do you like for the seasons they are supposed to represent.

And where does Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Dunkin Doughnuts, and Starbucks fit into this idea? :D

Earl Hartman
31st October 2000, 18:26
Neil:

You lucky bastard. Fresh, free matsutake? Dammit. Some guys have all the luck.

Matsutake gohan is good, of course. My wife puts matsutake in O-zoni for O-shogatsu. Clear dashi, thinly sliced fresh takenoko, broiled mochi, chopped mitsuba and a small piece of yuzu zest. Perfecto!

One of my favorite seasonal food is udo. Raw, thinly sliced, with sumiso. Can't beat it, unless you're lucky enough to have a fresh, natural shioyaki ayu along with it.

Earl

Neil Yamamoto
31st October 2000, 20:20
How did I know you would be the first to post Earl?

For some reason, I always think fresh mochi for New Years Oshogatsu as well. Probably because making it is a chore or it was before mom got the mochi machine. Who needs a bread machine when you got fresh mochi!!

BTW, Bowmore Legend is great with mochi.

Earl Hartman
31st October 2000, 20:49
Why do you need a bread machine if you've got fresh mochi? Well, becasue as tasty as it is, you can't make a good pastrami on rye with mochi, that's why.

Now, why did I know that you would tell me which single malt goes best with mochi? I was going to ask you, but I figured, nah, he'll tell me without any prodding.

Oh yeah, Japanese seasnoal foods: in Japan, they have small, light-purple seedless grapes with thick skins that are in season in the fall. They have a nice astringent tartness that US table grapes lack. Can't get enough of them.

Also, before they started using hothouses so you could get them practically year round, Japanese seasonal strawberries were unbelievably good.

Mikan in the fall.

For nostalgia, ishiyaki imo in the winter.

Earl

ChrisL
1st November 2000, 00:40
o-imooooo, o-imoooo!