If you like “Shushi”, watch these guys perform a wasabi overdose and wash it down with wines from Austria, the UK, and Spain!
As a French-Japanese couple living in Paris, we often find ourselves exploring the differences in Japanese and western food and drink culture. This blog is where we share our experiences, as well as try out specific wine pairings. In other words: the trial and error section of the site. Feel free to leave a comment!
Wasabi overdose… w/ wine
June 18th, 2011Sushi Shop: Japanese-French fusion
June 9th, 2011A couple months ago, we were surprised to see television commercials in France for a sushi restaurant franchise: Sushi Shop. With the gaining popularity of sushi in France however, they just may have the right idea in going big. With over 60 locations in major French cities and several more in neighboring EU countries, diners have the choice between a trendy decor or home delivery.
Is soup a drink?
May 30th, 2011“Eat your soup!”
You may have heard this phrase countless times as a child… unless you grew up in Japan that is. In the Japanese language, the verb used for the consumption of soup is nomu ( 飲む ) meaning -to drink-!
What’s a kappou restaurant?
May 19th, 2011The word kappou ( 割烹 ) came up today as we were discussing Mizuki’s high school job at a sushi restaurant… or rather “sushi kappou” as she put it. When I asked her what it meant, she couldn’t really define it. A Google search in English brought up “casual restaurant“, but that didn’t really sound right to her either.
Tempura with Sauvignon, Riesling & Vermentino
May 11th, 2011With a couple bottles left over from the previous night’s yakitori dinner, and a Riesling opened with some barbecue gambas two days earlier, we decided to prepare some home-made tempura to taste with the large variety of white wines, as well as a ripe Languedoc red which I will omit because it really didn’t work with anything.
Yakitori with Sauvignon Blanc and southern trio
April 24th, 2011
Barbecue weather calls for yakitori! On this pleasant evening, Mizuki prepared a variety of different chicken skewers to try with a few bottles of wine: a Saint-Bris Sauvignon Blanc and white Corsica from Patrimonio which we also tasted alongside tempura the next evening, but also a cheap local Languedoc rosé and red to get a first impression of how these colors work with the grilled chicken.
For each of the different skewers we only doused half in sweet the “tare” sauce, so that we could compare with the plain “shio” (ie. salt) version. I tend to prefer the latter, but tare does give the dish a more Japanese flavor, which is also quite nice.
Bread or rice for dinner?
April 18th, 2011“What would you like for dinner? Bread or Rice?”
Sound a bit bland? Luckily, we are still able to afford such luxuries as meats and vegetables, and when my wife Mizuki asks me this rather intriguing question, what she is actually asking is whether I would like Japanese or Western cuisine for supper.
This may sound pretty straight forward, but after I respond “with what?” for the twentieth time, it can get rather tedious for both parties. What this really shows is a deep divide in how Westerners and Japanese think of food.
Gohan or Kome: different words for “rice”
In Japanese, there are two words for rice: gohan ( 御飯 ) and kome ( 米 ). While the latter is strictly used for actual rice (usually uncooked), the word gohan means cooked rice, but is also the general word for a meal. Rice is considered the base of a traditional Japanese meal, and when one says asagohan ( 朝御飯 ) or yuuhan ( 夕飯 ), meaning breakfast and dinner, one is literally saying the -morning rice- or the -evening rice-.
A “mariage” of East and West
April 2nd, 2011In Japan, alcoholic beverages are never dissociated from food. It is inconceivable for a Japanese to enjoy a beer, spirit or sake without at least a small snack, or otsumami. And yet the concept of pairing food with specific drinks is relatively foreign to traditional Japanese culture.
