Monday, January 22, 2007
Kilkenny!
Stopped off last night at Dubliner's for a wee pint of yumminess that you can't get in the US - "Kilkenny" is an Irish brew that has a reddish color, fairly bitter, with a rich foam like Guinness. Total nostalgia from when I used to live here. Happy girl!!
Uni and yuba - delicious!
I'm putting this picture up especially for my wonderful boyfriend, Peter, who despite having never been to Asia, LOVES uni (sea urchin). I added a little soy sauce to my portion - DELICIOUS. Like anything else, if you taste GOOD uni the first time, you might really like it, otherwise the texture and flavor is more "challenging." This uni is prepared sashimi-style, and mixed with a thin, skinlike tofu called yuba. It's usually not as soupy as what's pictured here, and it's more often used to wrap rolled sushi, or as a noodle-like addition to soup. I've even seen it used to replicate poultry skins on products like "Tofurky." Again, I recommend trying yuba in Japan - totally different than what you find in the US. MUCH better.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
First Day of the Saké Tour
Ok, everyone say it together....."SAH-KAY!"
Today is my first real day of work with John Gauntner, the "Saké Guy." Peter is jealous, as are a couple of my other friends - I met nearly everyone on the tour last night at dinner. Truth be told, I was thinking that I got a darn good deal too - here I am sampling some incredible saké, eating extremely well and working with some pretty cool people. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to establish a rapport with my clients, and they can be challenging, but it looks like this is going to be pretty fun.
The place we went to last night for dinner was Takara. Takara specializes in all types of saké. One really good one was Urakasumi ("oo-rah-kah-soo-mi;" pronunciation is just like Spanish!). John said he's never had a bad bottle from this one. We tasted the "shin-shu" (new batch), similar to the "Beaujolais Nouveau" concept. Clean, crisp and delicious!
Today is my first real day of work with John Gauntner, the "Saké Guy." Peter is jealous, as are a couple of my other friends - I met nearly everyone on the tour last night at dinner. Truth be told, I was thinking that I got a darn good deal too - here I am sampling some incredible saké, eating extremely well and working with some pretty cool people. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to establish a rapport with my clients, and they can be challenging, but it looks like this is going to be pretty fun.
The place we went to last night for dinner was Takara. Takara specializes in all types of saké. One really good one was Urakasumi ("oo-rah-kah-soo-mi;" pronunciation is just like Spanish!). John said he's never had a bad bottle from this one. We tasted the "shin-shu" (new batch), similar to the "Beaujolais Nouveau" concept. Clean, crisp and delicious!
OISHI!
This is Ted, a Japanese antiques dealer and expert sword polisher.
The man knows so much about swords, you wonder how he keeps it
all in his head. He does, however, find time to enjoy the finer things in life, like sake. This is a variety of sake that he absolutely had to have, after I told him about its distinct aftertaste. It tastes just like "uni," or sea urchin. If you've ever gone to a sushi restaurant and wondered what that orange, gelatin-looking thing was, it's uni. And it's delicious. So here it is - uni-flavored sake, expertly showcased by Ted!
The man knows so much about swords, you wonder how he keeps it
all in his head. He does, however, find time to enjoy the finer things in life, like sake. This is a variety of sake that he absolutely had to have, after I told him about its distinct aftertaste. It tastes just like "uni," or sea urchin. If you've ever gone to a sushi restaurant and wondered what that orange, gelatin-looking thing was, it's uni. And it's delicious. So here it is - uni-flavored sake, expertly showcased by Ted!
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