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A
Master of Italian Cuisine Enchanted by the Magic
of Indigenous Fish Sauce |
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Sticking
out on the western side of Japan's Honshu
Island, the largest of the four main islands
of Japan, the Noto Peninsula provides travelers
with seascapes, cultural sights and a glimpse
of traditional rural life in pristine nature.
Hailing from Sidney in Australia, Benjamin
Maxwell Flatt fell in love with Chikako while
she was in Australia and married her. He opted
to lead a slow life there that eschews the
fast-paced consumption of modern urban life
for the slow pace of farming and small villages.
In a small fishing village of Sannami, about
an hour's flight from Tokyo, Flatt runs "Flatts
by the Sea," a traditional Japanese guesthouse
which he took over in 1997 from his wife's
family.
Calling him "Ben-san" in a friendly
manner, locals appreciate his receptiveness
to the customs and traditions in this remote
Japanese village.
* San is a Japanese title used after a person's
name, the equivalent of Mr., Mrs. or Miss. |
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"When
I moved into this town, I helped my wife's
parents for one and half a year at Sannami
Guesthouse, which we have been running as
"Flatts by the Sea" since 1997.
Having worked at Sannami, I was able to learn
all the distinctive ingredients and unique
cooking methods from the Noto region.
At "Flatts by the Sea" my wife and
I serve meals using local ingredients for
only three couples a day. Local fishermen
provide us with the freshest fish caught in
the nearby sea, and local farmers generously
supply us with the vegetables that they grow.
We also prepare our own pickles.
You may find it difficult to associate Italian
cuisine with such a rural town in Japan, literally
in the middle of nowhere, but one of the basic
tenets of Italian cooking is to arrange recipes
based on locally obtainable ingredients. For
instance, Naples has its own recipes and so
does Rome, influenced by local ingredients
and climates.
Noto is no exception. My Italian cuisine is
closely intertwined with what I can procure
locally in the nearby Sea of Japan. I am also
inclined to use Japanese seasonings. Here
in the Noto Peninsula a dazzling array of
fresh fish and shellfish are caught in the
Sea of Japan, where cold and warm currents
meet. Some of the seasonal delicacies are:
sweet prawns and sea bream in summer; squid
in autumn; snow crabs, yellowtails and anglerfish
in winter. The fish are so fresh that they
do look alive.
What characterizes my Noto-style Italian cuisine
is Ishiri sauce, extremely refined indigenous
fish sauce that has been used for generations
in the traditional cooking of the Noto region.
The notable characteristic of this sauce is
its amazing versatility. If you add an appropriate
amount of sauce to your cooking, it really
enhances the natural flavors. In other words
the Ishiri sauce helps the flavors come out
of the materials.
What I also find fascinating in Noto is the
fact that seascapes, cultural sights and a
glimpse of traditional rural life in pristine
nature still remain intact as well as its
unique culinary culture.
This stems, I think, from Noto's geographical
features - it juts out into the sea and is
remote from the main islands of Japan. This
geographical isolation is, I believe, attributable
to the preservation of authentic lifestyles.
Noto is much safer than other major tourist
destinations in South East Asia and I always
find it enchanting to see locals lead a traditional
life in unspoiled natural landscapes. I honestly
believe that the scenery that can be observed
in Noto is worth one million dollars. For
discriminating travelers who wish to experience
authentic Japan, I would strongly recommend
traveling to the countryside like Noto." |
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