Quick Bite: JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI

Directed by David Gelb

In Japanese with English subtitles

This documentary on the-then-85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono is a must-see for sushi lovers, foodies, or anyone who has respect for those who strive to perfect their craft. On the surface, the movie seems to be about a man that is obsessed with making sushi, but in reality it is actually a story about the search for and creation of harmony.

We learn about the experience of having a meal at Jiro Ono’s Sukiyabashi Jiro, which is the first sushi restaurant to receive a Michelin three-star rating. Located in a Tokyo subway station, the restaurant seats only 10 and reservations are made at least a month in advance. The menu is a set menu costing 30,000 yen (approximately $375) consisting of 20 pieces of sushi. Now, this may seem an extraordinary amount to pay for a meal that lasts only about 15 to 20 minutes. However, the movie recounts how the meal is served as if it were a symphony. (To enhance the symphony analogy, the movie is accompanied by classical music from Beethoven and Philip Glass.)

It’s not an ordinary meal. This is sushi prepared with a lifetime of experimentation (seemingly scientific at times) and passion. Jiro Ono is no mere sushi chef—he is known as a shokunin (craftsman or artisan). He started working with sushi at the age of 9, and he has never strayed or been distracted from perfecting new ways to prepare the perfect piece of sushi. He does not believe that he will ever attain his goal, but that does not deter him from trying to do so every day.

He is known for his soft-handed, two-fingered technique. He advises his apprentices that they should handle the fish and rice as if they were pinching a baby chick. Apprentices train for at least 10 years before they’re even allowed to touch the food. All of the ingredients are selected by masters in their specialties—from the tuna buyer, the shrimp buyer, and the rice buyer. The rice is served at body temperature and the fish at room temperature.

As he was 85 when the movie was shot in 2011, how will his legacy continue? He has two sons who appear in the film. The younger son has opened a sister restaurant in Roppongi Hills. The restaurant’s layout is a mirror image of the father’s. As the father is left-handed, and the son is right-handed it creates perfect symmetry. His older son, Yoshikazu, works in his father’s restaurant and he will take over when his father retires or becomes unable to continue working. The question of course is whether the son will live up to the father’s accomplishments. The film answers that with a resounding yes, with an astonishing climactic revelation.

After watching, don’t be surprised if you find that you, too, have dreams of sushi!

Note: Would also highly recommend watching the specials that come with the BluRay or DVD (i.e., deleted scenes and commentary).

SUMMER FANCY FOOD SHOW—Chop, Chat, and Charm Panel

A friend of mine who’s interested in starting her own blog asked me if I could give her some advice about blogging. It made me think about a panel that I attended at the Summer Fancy Food Show.

Chop, Chat, and Charm: Connecting with Your Audience

Panelists:

Sara Moulton, host of PBS’s Sara’s Weeknight Meals

Kelsey Nixon, host of Cooking Channel’s Kelsey’s Essentials

Roger Mooking, host of Cooking Channel’s Man Fire Food

I attended this panel hoping to get some tips on how this food blog could reach a larger audience, and I thought the expert panelists provided some really helpful advice.

The most important way to connect with your audience is being honest and real with them. Bottom line, it is important to believe in whatever you’re “selling.” When establishing your blog, it’s also important to be consistent in how you wish to “brand yourself.” With each post, ask yourself, What is your perspective? And stay true to your brand!

Most important: Have fun! It shouldn’t be stressful.

Another way to connect with your audience is to know what form of social media would be right for you (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blogging).  Ask yourself:

Who is your audience? Who are you speaking to?

How much time do you have to spend on connecting with your audience?

What is your personality and voice?

If the choice is blogging, the panelists recommended posting at least three (3) times a week. (Yikes! I’m lucky if I’m able to post once a week. So I gotta work on that!!) Some suggested blog posts for a food blog would be links to favorite recipes or good tips, tools, and techniques used in cooking. Blogging definitely requires much more effort in regards to time and commitment.

Tweeting is simpler and easier. It also will connect you with a younger audience. Blogs tend to attract an older audience. The panelists actually thought that having a Twitter and Instagram account should be a MUST if outreach and connection to a larger audience is desired. They recommend that you tweet every day with unique postings. Asking questions would be a good way to engage your audience.

Was this post of help to you?

SUMMER FANCY FOOD SHOW

June 30 – July 2, 2013 (New York City)

Held at the Javits Center in NYC, the Fancy Food Show is a food lover’s paradise. You can sample food offerings from over 2,500 exhibitors, representing countries from all around the world. What is particularly awesome is that most of the food sampled is conveniently available through purchase online or from a local nearby grocery store (such as a Whole Foods or a Shop Rite).

It can be an overwhelming experience for first timers, but it’s a very civilized experience compared to other conferences such as Book Expo or NY Comic Con where attendees swarm like the zombies from Brad Pitt’s World War Z film for the freebies and giveaways.

Most Important Advice

Pace yourself. Fight off the urge to sample EVERYTHING. Especially avoid trying every cheese as that will fill you up pretty quickly and deny you the opportunity of sampling a variety of tastings.

Do also take some time to appreciate some of the booths pretty unique and eye-catching designs as well as their product packaging.

Such as the chocolate-made shoes and handbags of Sweet Shop USA:

The beautiful vine-shaped balsamic vinegar bottle holder from Fattorie Giacobazzi:

The GoGo Squeez Apple Sauce tree:

The Ginger People Gin-Gins:

The jeweled offerings from Koppers:

And Haribo:

And the new launch of Jelly Belly’s gift line featuring Mickey and friends:

Do also try to predict your future by getting a fortune cookie from Lady Fortunes:

Or try some fancy New Moon and/or Eclipse chocolate from Dagoba (the company insists that the chocolates were named way before the Twilight series):

Standouts

Asian Food

Best soy sauce

Modenaceti Soy Glaze. Sooo good on vegetable dumplings that I had to get a sample each day of the show.

Best stir-fry sauce (and best demo!)

Blue Dragon’s Szechuan Pepper Stir-Fry Sauce. The Asian chef (who had an Australian accent, but was currently living in England) prepared the stir-fry sauce with chicken. As you can see it was served sizzling from the frying pan. Quick and easy to prep as advertised! And yummy!

Best sandwich

GoFusion. Tried both the Braised Teriyaki and Peking Chicken samples. Even with the bite-sized samples I could taste the explosion of flavors.

Best Indian

Maya Kaimal’s Spinach Saag Masala. Will satisfy that craving for something spicy and flavorful!!

Best peppers

Java Peppers from Indonesia. As exotic tasting as it sounds.

Best seaweed

JK Food’s Roasted and Seasoned Laver Snack (red package). Perfectly made and served by a sweet-looking, matronly Asian woman rolling pieces of seaweed with rice to make small rice balls. The seaweed tasted of shrimp and sesame and had an incredible crunch to it. A must-buy!!

Best pastry

Delimanjoo cream cakes. Fresh-baked pastry; comes with various fillings such as custard (which is the most common) or raisins. It is like tasting a bit of heaven. Plus it is fish-shaped—how cute is that?!? Genius!

Cheeses

Best cheese (and best Mac & Cheese)

Beecher’s Handmade Flagship Cheese. Have been to the Flatiron location in NYC (where they are not stingy about allowing you to taste all of their different cheeses!) to just purchase some cheese, but now must try out the restaurant portion of the store as well.

Best flavored cheese

Snowdonia Cheese Company’s ginger spice cheese. Really soft cheese that seems to melt in your mouth, but the ginger spice flavoring is something that I can honestly say that I’ve never tasted before.

Desserts

Best ice cream

A tie. Jeni’s Goat Cheese with Red Cherries and Gelato Fiasco’s Caramel Sea Salt. Jeni’s tasted smooth and seemingly healthy and refreshing; whereas Gelato Fiasco’s was absolutely decadent. Also, the Gelato Fiasco’s jar is made of plastic, not glass. Keeper!!

Best ice cream topping

Somebody’s Mother’s Chocolate Sauce (White Chocolate sauce). Delish! Tried a sample all three days over vanilla ice cream.

Best cake

Kentucky Woods Bourbon Barrel Cake. Bourbon in a brown sugar and chocolate cake with chocolate and caramel bourbon cream drizzled over bourbon-glazed walnuts. Smooth!

Miscellaneous

Best pasta sauce

Chef Silvio’s Sunday Sauce. Tastes like how Italian pasta sauce should—traditional and Old World.

Best polenta

De la Estancia’s Organic Polenta. It tasted very sweet and it melted easily in your mouth. One of the best polenta that I have ever eaten and I have eaten quite a lot of polenta.

Best preservative

Tiptree’s Lemon Curd. Delicious. Tasted just like candy!

Drinks

Best tea (overall)

Twinings. First off, great booth! They had several tea stations with a generous variety of tea tastings. Most fun was the holiday tea offering. I particularly liked Winter Spice. Nothing beats the summer heat as celebrating Christmas in July.

Loved the ambiance with the grate - reminds me of jolly old London:

Best iced tea

The Republic of Tea’s Decaf Coconut Cocoa. So good it tasted like ice cream!

Best coffee

Dazbog’s roasted coffee is unbelievably good. You can taste the roasted grounds. It tastes the way real coffee should. Plus they have a great biographical story that you can read here:

Best soda

GuS (Grown Up Soda)’s Extra Dry Ginger Ale. Refreshing and makes you believe it’s good for you!!

Best wines

Portal del Alto Sauvignon Blanc (pale yellow coloring with hints of grapefruit and citrus; very refreshing wine with an aromatic finish):

Portal del Alto Four Reds (intense ruby red color with slight, spicy afternotes)

Best pairing

Hanging Vine Pinot Noir 2012 with Seth Greenberg’s Brownie Crunch Jalapeno. Seems like a strange combo, but it works and finishes with a zing!

Cheers!

P.S. And don’t forget to grab some swag!