Japanese food may have been influenced by cuisines all over the world but it has never given up the Japanese way of giving attention to the smallest of details and taking all efforts to preserve quality. In this circumspect but consistent manner, Japanese chefs have retained the culture and taste of the Japanese kitchen, no matter the ingredients or the style or the country. That’s why it’s no surprise that in a very quiet but steady way, Japanese food has taken over the world.
The Japanese has convinced the world to
take up a pair of chopsticks and try their spin on local cuisine as well as
their most traditional food. Despite the differences in available ingredients,
the different styles learned from different regions like France and Italy, and
the different preferences of diners in different countries, Japanese food can
still offer up food and call them authentically Japanese.
Do
the celebrated sushi restaurants and ramen shops in vaunted locations like New
York serve the same sushi and
of the morning to buy freshly caught
tuna at the Tsukiji market but he might not be able to do the same thing in the
US. The rice in Japan may be different
from the rice in Paris. But the Japanese are firm in there ways, and Japanese
chefs prepare food with the same sincerity and consideration as they would in
Japan. These are the same quality of chefs who would spend years perfecting a
single skill.
They are undeniably dedicated and undoubtedly serious about the
food that they serve. That’s why a modern maki sushi with topped with a torched
cheesy sauce and topped with marinated tobiko
or flying fish roe is still something to be celebrated. It is still Japanese.
Have Japanese chefs succeeded in
offering genuinely good Japanese food to the world? Absolutely. They have
created a Japanese food revolution, and few were as revolutionary as Nobu
Matsuhisa. Chef Matsuhisa or Nobu as he is known to fellow chefs and diners
everywhere started as a cook in Shinjuku, Tokyo and eventually opened a
Japanese restaurant in Peru.
With newfound Peruvian flavors, he blended
traditional Japanese dishes with South American dishes to create a fusion menu
that won him a Michelin One Star for his restaurants Nobu New York, Nobu
London, and Nobu Berkely London. His menus are clearly modern with offerings
such as Squid Pasta Donburi, Monkfish Pate with Caviar, Nobu Sashimi Tacos, and
Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno, but they are still undeniably Japanese.
But despite the worldwide celebration of
Japanese cuisine, you’ll be surprised to find that even the most awarded
Japanese restaurants have remained unobtrusive. Isami by Chef Katsuo Nakamura
is one of the best restaurants in Paris, Japanese or otherwise. It has been
widely praised, from celebrities to the Cuisine
Japonaise Authentique, a private French organization, but the chef as well
as the restaurant has remained enigmatic. Chef Nakamura runs his kitchen and
prepares dish after dish in his traditional wooden sandals with quiet
efficiency.
Without a word, he serves some of the best food in Paris with
amazing textures and brilliant plate compositions that make you hesitate to eat
the food. But what makes this restaurant so markedly successful is that it has
managed to win over a crowd that is very particular about food and is unmatched
in their pride for their own cuisine – the Parisians.
Japanese have managed what so few chefs
have done anywhere in the world – serve their cuisine while making use of local
ingredients and supply in different countries without giving up what is
essentially Japanese about the food. With their careful preparations and
sincere dedication to good and high quality food, the Japanese have taken the world
by storm with slices of fish, flavoured rice, and a pair of wooden chopsticks.
This is an excerpt from the book: How to Use Chopsticks
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