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Renowned Japanese chef Yasuhiro Sasajima describes his experiences fusing Italian ingredients and techniques with the ingredients and principals of traditional vegetarian shojin cuisine, which has its roots in Kyoto, and was originally consumed by Buddhist monks as a sign of their devotion. You may not be surprised to learn that umami played an important role in his odyssey. Encounters with umami "The first time I came into contact with umami was when I was asked to write a book entitled 'Italian Shojin Recipes' My restaurant, Il Ghiottone, is based in Kyoto, which is generally recognized as the home of archetypal Japanese cuisine, and furthermore both shojin cuisine and its modern day successor kaiseki cuisine can be said to have deep and long held associations with the history of Kyoto. Shojin cuisine originated as a food for Buddhist monks. It does not feature meat or fish, but consists mainly of vegetables, and in Kyoto often includes traditional Kyoto vegetables, which are collectively known in Japanese as kyoyasai, and include special varieties of burdock, aubergine and carrot.
When I first heard about the idea of serving shojin cuisine in an Italian style, I must say I was a bit apprehensive. After all, to my mind, Italian cookery included a lot of meat, fresh fish and cheese, all of which is somewhat removed from the ideals of shojin. When I took another look at Italian cuisine from the perspective of the shojin tradition, however, I realized that there is a wide array of delicious vegetarian recipes in Italy, all of which benefit from the country's rich abundance of vegetables and olive oil. Kyoto, with its extremes of heat and cold and superb natural surroundings, provides a delicious assortment of kyoyasai, and I began to wonder if I could combine these with olive oil to create tasty Italian cuisine in the shojin tradition.
It was when I was exploring the possibilities of Italian shojin cuisine that I was made aware of just how truly delicious vegetables are, and I realized that the single most important factor in bringing out this deliciousness is umami. For example, I often use kombu (kelp) and kombu dashi (kelp stock) in my cooking, as these play a central role in Kyoto cuisine, or kyoryori as it is known in Japanese, and I discovered that if kombu is added to the water when cooking pasta, the kombu provides umami and saltiness, which gives the pasta a delicious depth of flavour. Moreover, by boiling or steaming vegetables using kombu dashi, it is possible to draw out their full flavour using the umami inherent in the kombu.
About Yasuhiro Sasajima Yasuhiro Sasajima is Owner and Chef of Il Ghiottone restaurant in Kyoto, where he specializes in a unique form of Kyoto Italian cuisine. Such is the restaurant's success that in 2005 a sister branch was opened in Marunouchi, Tokyo. He also makes regular contributions to television programmes and publications in Japan. Il Ghiottone Restaurant
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