Tag Archives: French Gastronomy

Strawberries: From the Shizuoka Producer to the Gastronomic Table: Gentil!

January 31, 2011 dragonlife 4 Comments

Ms. Keiko Kubota/久保田敬子 at Gentil Restaurant

Ranking：
Service: very professional
Facilities: Very clean, superb facilities.
Prices:~ Slightly expensive to expensive
Strong points: Beautiful and fresh ingredients presented and combined to perfection. Local ingredients whenever possible. Superb wine list. The best cheese trays in Japan! Everything thoroughly and kindly explained!
Map

Toukun Strawberries

Yesterday I visited my good friend, Ms. Keiko Kubota, Maître D’Hôte at Gentil/ジャンテイ・レストラン, the oldest French Restaurant in Town and probably Prefecture.
I do not need to introduce this extremely talented lady who has attained national and international fame as the only Japanese Compagnon d’Honneur du Guilde des Fromagers (フランス熟成士の組合ギルドデフロマージュからコンパニオンドヌール)!
The reason for my sudden visit was to introduce her to new strawberries that have just been created in Shizuoka Prefecture, namely Ookimi/おおきみ and Toukun/桃薫 produced by an association of 6 farmers in Yaizu and Fujieda Cities.
Not only did I introduce her to these beauties, but I also challenged her to create (with her chef) a couple of gastronomic delights!

Sautéed Foie Gras with Toukun strawberries, fried and glazed Toukun Strawberry, Foie Gras Mousse on Aromatic Herbs Tile and Toukun Strawberry Jelly!

Now, for the explanations!

The foie gras was sautéed as it is (its own fat is enough) with a little salt and pepper and served with slices of one half Toukun strawberry.

The other half of the Toukun strawberry was lightly fried and glazed in its own natural sugar.
The leftover juices of the strawberry were combined with those of the foie gras with a little Madeira wine for a perfect sauce!
Great balance between relatively acid strawberries and strong-flavored foie gras!

A tile (タイル) perfumed with aromatic herbs, arching above some cress, was then topped with foie gras mousse decorated with jelly made from the same strawberry!

Ookimi Strawberries

An Ookimi strawberry Farandole (ファランドル)!

Farandole is a dance from the South of France, meaning that all participants join hands in a dancing circle.

The Ookimi strawberries were delicately cut and placed in a circle with small balls of ice cream and sorbet in their centre.

Can you guess the ice creams and sorbets?
Strawberry, Vanilla, Yoghurt and Panacotta!
All elegance!
The perfect dessert for ladies?

I don’t have to tell that I’m also looking forward to Ms. Kubota’s creations with other Shizuoka products I will bring her soon!

Restaurant Gentil
Address:420-0031 Shizuoka Shi, Gofuku-cho, 2-9-1, Gennan Kairaku building, 2F
Tel.: 054-2547655 (Reservations advisable)
Fax: 054-2210509
Opening hours: 12:00~14:00, 18:00~last orders for meals at 21:30. Bar time 18:00~23:30. Closed on Mondays.
Credit cards OK
Homepage　(Japanese)

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French Desserts at Pissenlit

November 17, 2010 dragonlife Leave a comment

Service: excellent and very friendly
Facilities: great washroom, great cleanliness overall
Prices: reasonable, good value.
Strong points: Interesting wine list. Great use of local products.
entirely non-smoking!

I do not need to introduce Pissenlit, one of the very best French restaurants in the whole Shizuoka Prefecture.
As I often go there, alone, with the Missus or friends, I find it more practical to introduce Tooru Arima’s creations as a group!
This time I would like to introduce you to some of his recent desserts!

Let’s start with the first one (Top picture repeated!):
La France Pear Compote on Vanilla Ice-cream and Creme Brulee.
The pear had been compoted beforehand and kept in the fridge.
It was placed on a portion of home-made vanilla ice-cream.
The whole was covered and surrounded with a light creme anglaise/custard which was then “brulee” with a gas burner. Some glazing sugar and mint were added to the fear as a finishing point!
Succulent and lighter than it looks!

Coffee Creme Brulee.

The dreme/pudding contained a lot of strong mocha coffee for the perfect mariage. The creme was brulee until its srface was thick and crackling.
Served with fresh figs, it almost looked like a chocolate cream.
As usual lighter than usual and a treat you never tires of. Of course served with a high-quality coffee!

Roasted Figs with Vanilla Ice Cream and Roquefort Blue Cheese Cream.

Now, this was quite a discovery!
The sweet taste of the roasted (Shizuoka-grown) figs was counterbalanced in two gradual ways: first the vanilla ice-cream (light as usual) will bring you down a little from the sweet plane onto the salted and sweet plane formed by the Roqufort cheese mixed into a light cream!
An experience!

Caramel Flan/Pudding with Fruits and Vegetables Sorbets.

A seemingly simple dessert until you discover than sorbets are made with vegetables, spinach and tomato! The fruit are persimmon, pione grapes and two small fruits I don’t have a clue about (sorry,I’ll check during my next visit!).
Incidentally the caramel pudding is firm, sweet to the right point and the caramel sauce a beauty!

looking forward to the next ones!

PISSENLIT
420-0839 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Takajo, 2-3-4
Tel.: 054-270-8768
Fax: 054-627-3868
Business hours: 11:30~14:30; 17:00~22:00
Closed on Tuesdays and Sunday evening
Homepage (Japanese)
Credit Cards OK

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Alain Passard’s Visit in Shizuoka!

October 26, 2010 dragonlife 8 Comments

Shizuoka Prefecture is at long last receiving the attention it deserves!
From Monday October 25th through Friday October 29th, Alain Passard will hold no less than 4 dinner shows and one demonstration for professionals in Shizuoka, Hamamatsu and Itoh Cities!

At the official Press Conference inside the Shizuoka Prefecture Hall.

Alain Passard is an establishment in France where he has been awarded the three Michelin Stars for the last 14 years for his Restaurant, Arpège, in Paris.
A few years ago, conscious of environment and health in general, he took a big risk and won the challenge of offering high class gastronomy mainly based on vegetables and fruits.
He has already introduced French gastronomy in Japan on many occasions, but this was the first time he concentrated his visit on Shizuoka Prefecture only!

Suzuki Gakuin, the scene of Alain Passard’s demonstration.

Why did such a celebrated chef choose our Prefecture?
A very simple reason: the quality and variety of Shizuoka Prefecture’s vegetables and fruit had finally reached his ears, and as a true professional chef and a lover of good food he could ignore our region any longer, the more for it that it reminds him of his native Bretagne, another region world-famous for its superlative vegetables and extraordinary seafood.

During the Press Conference, Mr. Passard was the image of a true ambassador with a passion and a warmth that quickly won everybody’s heart. A model of civility without ostentation, he explained his reasons for coming at last to Shizuoka and discover its long hidden treasures.
He personally invited me for a private lunch with his staff and Government officials where he showed an intense interest for all I had the time to tell about my adopted home.

Shizuoka ingredients line-up!

At 14:00 we found ourselves in Suzuki Gakuin Cooking School for a demonstration reserved for paying professionals only.
Although the place was crowded to the very limits, many guests had to wait until the other event, the dinner at Nakajimaya Hotel, to have a chance to witness Mr. Passard’s art.

More than 80 professionals were attending!

Among them, some very famous local chefs from all over the Prefecture!

Participants, however far from the stage, could follow the demonstration from overhead mirrors,

and two live TV screens!

Apart of an official interpreter, Alain Passard had his own two aides on hand, Isabelle Schipp from Alsace and Julien Lebon from Paris, two extremely capable lieutenants than no true chef can do without!

Alain Passard’s was not only a demonstration of his skills and inventiveness, but of the whole concept of preparing food.
First, he insisted on the importance of shopping for ingredients when he chose from the array of vegetables displayed in front of him.

Second, having chosen the ingredients of his fancy, came the moment of intense reflection on what he would create with them. As he so justly explained, a true chef has always his moments of uncertainty he has to overcome before immersing himself in his art.

And then the show finally started in earnest!
A long video might have done a better job but at least let me show you the results I had such a great pleasure to witness!

Except for the butter, milk and salt, all ingredients were from Shizuoka!
We were offered three recipes, all created on the moment!

1) Shizuoka Onions (Fondue) and Mandarines (Confit) with Wasabi and Fresh Peanuts, as appetizers.

For a closer view!

2) Shizuoka Small Turnips and Cherry Tomatoes with Shiitake Mushrooms and Ciboulette Leeks, as a main dish.

3) Shizuoka Melon (Carpaccio) and fresh Ginger with Shishito Peppers and Roquette (Luccola) for dessert!

Did I mention this was a vegetarian delight?
If you have more precise questions about the whole (cooking) process, I’ll be glad to oblige!

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Shizuoka Sake Tasting: Fuji-Takasago Brewery/Takasago Yamahai Junmai Hiyaoroshi

September 20, 2010 dragonlife Leave a comment

It’s been some time since I tasted a sake from Fuji-Takasago Brewery in Fujinomiya City.
Since September is the time to taste the Hiyaoroshi sake/sake taht has been sterelized only once, it is such an embarrssment of choices, but I opted for this brewery as it is slightly unusual in Shizuoka refecture.

The real title for this particular sake is “Takasago Yamahai Shikomi Junmai Shu Hiyaoroshi Namatsume”!
Meaning: Takasago (main name) Yamahai Shikomi (old style brewing) Junmai Shu (Junmai=no alcohol added) Hitaoroshi Namatsume (bottled without a second sterilization.
On top of this it is a genshu/no water added!

Fuji-Takasago Brewery/Takasago Yamahai Junmai Hiyaoroshi

Rice: Yamada Nishiki 100% (Hyogo Prefecture)
Riced milled down to 55% (extravagant!)
Alcohol: 16~17 degrees (genshu)
Dryness: -3 (sweet for Shizuoka)
Bottled in September 2010

Clarity: very clear
Colour: Faint golden hue
Aroma: Strong, very fruity: bananas, vanilla, sweet ornages
Body: Fluid
Taste: Strong attack with a lot of junmai “petillant”, sweetish.
Complex: Macadamia nuts, bananas, oranges, vanilla.
Warms back of the palate for some time. Lingers for a while with very dry almonds backed up by oranges and vanilla.
Sweet by Shizuoka standards at first approach but dries up quickly.

Overall: A sake that can be greatly enjoyed chilled or at room temperature.
Great as a sweetish aperitif or in lieu of a port wine.
Strikes a great marriage with choclate or blue cheese.
Chilled, can be drunk as a dessert drink! Would do excellently poured over ice-cream!

Must-see tasting websites:
-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery
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Vegan Sushi at Sushi Ko (2010/09/16)

September 18, 2010 dragonlife 6 Comments

For once, thatis last Thursday, the heat has somewhat abated.
We even had welcome rain almost all day long.
The Missus and I did not need more encouragement to pay a belated visit to our favourite sushi Restaurant in Shizuoka Cyt, Sushi Ko.
We did have a lot I will describe in the next posting but I thought my vegan and vegetarian friends would like to see a separate article about vegan/vegetarian sushi!

Mr. Oda seved us 5 different types.
The first two are menegi/芽葱 or thin leeks sprouts topped with a little yuzukoshio paste.
The second one is himesoba/姫蕎麦 or buckwheat sprouts secured with a small band of nori/dry seaweed.
Both were serve raw.

The third one was kaiwaredaikon/貝割れ大根　or daikon sprous, boiled and topped with some umeboshi/梅干 pickled Japanese plum paste.
The fourth was raw mitsuba/三つ葉　or Japanese Honeywort secured with a thin band of nori/dry seaweed.

The fifth was mitsuba/三つ葉　or Japanese Honeywort again but slightly boiled and served as gunkan shushi/軍艦寿司 style.

Looking forward to the next visit!

Sushi Ko
Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Ryogae-cho. 2-3-1 (Aoba Koen)
Tel.: 054-2512898
Business Hours： 17:00~25:00. 17:00~23:00 （Sundays）
Closed on Wednesdays
Reservations recommended
Credit cards OK
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)

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French Dessert: Roasted Figs, Vanilla Ice Cream & Blue Cheese Sauce at Pissenlit

September 16, 2010 dragonlife Leave a comment

We are about to enter the best season to savour figs and there are plenty available in our Prefecture and City as the climate is particularly propitious for grwoing ll kinds of fruit here.

Figs come in many gusise from small and black to enormous and violet (there also green ones here. I mean green and ripe!).

Tooru Arima at Pissenlit in Shizuoka City came up with an interesting concept in this seasonal dessert.

He first siced the large figs chosen amon still a little green spcimen and roasted them.

He served them with a spoon of vanilla sauce and Roquefort Blue Cheese sauce. There werestill small intact pieces of blue chees inside the sauce.
The combination of sweet, sugared, salty, sweet and sour and others was incredible, especially in regards to the apparent simplicty of the dish!
Too many taste and nusaces to describe, but certainly heaven for sweet teeth woorying about one’s health!

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French Gastronomy: Pacific Saury and Potato Terrine with Aioli at Pissenlit

September 16, 2010 dragonlife Leave a comment

Pacific Saury. or sanma/秋刀魚 (Atumn Sword Fish in Japanese) is very much in season right now when it is fat and easily prepared.
The Japanese love it as sashimi or grilled directly over a fire.

Tooru Arima at Pissenlit in Shizuoka City came up with a typically French creation: terrine!

The organic potatoes had been first boiled and seasoned and then sieved before being laid and seasoned again with ground black pepper in a kind of almost solid puree intersped with very thin slices of Pacific saury. Cutting/slicing the fish can be done only with the proper Japanes knife and skills.

The terrine was then gently cooked in bain-marie and cooled down completely before being served at room temperature.

A succulent aioli mayonnaise and organic greens from Mishima City completed this simple dish but so beutiful in balance and taste!

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French gastronomy with local products: Roasted Pork and Organic Vegetables at Pissenlit

September 16, 2010 dragonlife Leave a comment

The main reason for my choosing a restaurant is whether it serves cuisine made with as many locla products as possible, be they vegetables, meat, fruit or fish. or all of them!

Luckily enough, Shziuoka Prefecture is a mine gold when it comes to local poducts as proved in this latest seasonal creation by Tooru Arima at Pissenlit in Shizuoka city!

The pork is “Yusui Buta/湧水豚” from Fujinomiya City at the foot of Mount Fuji which was served roasted with a dijon seed mustard sauce.

All the vegetables were organic and grown by Mr. Hirooka in Mishima City (also at the foot Mount Fuji!).
The vegetables represented here are from the top: Okra. Shishito pepper, Shikaku Ingen/squre string bean, and Ingen mame/String bean.

The pork lay partly over a slice of roasted white eggplant/aubergine.
The later is topped with okra and its flower!

For a better view of the okra flower!
Succulent!

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Iwate Prefecture Specialties 3: Spiny Lobster

September 11, 2010 dragonlife 2 Comments

As previously mentioned, I’ve just spent a nice holiday away from it all in Iwate Prefecture in the North/Tohoku Part of Japan, in Morioka more precisley!

Although Iwate Prefecture does not have as long a seashore as in Shizuoka, it’s nonetheless noted for its fish and crustaceans, especially spiny lobsters/Ise Ebi/伊勢海老!

The above sashimi dish was served to us for dinner at our hotel in Shizukuishi, a noted area for skiing and hotsprings.

The spiny lobster is estremely fresh of course and its raw meat is very sweet, a real morsel here in Japan.
The fish are maguro/tuna toro and sanma/Pacific Saury.

A great extravagant combination!

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Iwate Prefecture Specialties 2: Sanma/Pacific Saury

September 10, 2010 dragonlife 2 Comments

Sanma O-tsukuri: plate of Pacific Saury sashimi

As previously mentioned, I’ve just spent a nice holiday away from it all in Iwate Prefecture in the North/Tohoku Part of Japan, in Morioka more precisley!

Although Iwate Prefecture does not have as long a seashore as in Shizuoka, it’s nonetheless noted for its fisheries, especially sanma/Pacific saury!

As it comes absolutely fresh in that Prefecture, it is best savored raw in season (right now) when it is “fat”.
We ate the above in a great little izakaya in Morioka City.
The fish was cut in almost paper-thin slices and served with lime, grated ginger, momijioroshi/grated daikon with chili pepper and finely chopped thin leeks to be dipped into soy sauce.
A must for sashimi officionados!

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Iwate Prefecture Specialties 1: Noodles and Soba

September 9, 2010 dragonlife 2 Comments

Jaja Men

I’ve just spent a nice holiday away from it all in Iwate Prefecture in the North/Tohoku Part of Japan, in Morioka more precisley!

Whenever you mention Morioka City in this country, the Japanese will firts say noodles, ramen, Ja Ja Men and so on!
A paradise for the Missus who is a me, vermicelli, udon, soba and pasts addict!

The picture above shows the Ja Ja Men, maybe its most famous morsel in taht field (I will write a more detailed report on my visit as soon as I more time!)

Yasai Soba Salad

Soba are next and this particular cold soba served with loads of finely chopped carrot and cucumber and katsuo bushi/dry bonito havings was simple and tasty!
The Missus certainly enjoyed them!

As for me, I had sake soba!

The small flask at the right contains cold sake. I poured it over the two-tier soba dishes. The sake will drip into the bttom dish (thrid one) and will be added tothe suace later. Served with mushrooms and grated daikon.
Now, that was a beauty!

Tororo Soba

Tororo means grated yama imo/yam. Another Missus’ favorite (I mean another “favorite”, not another “Missus”).
We ate that in Hiraizumi on top of a mountain!

Cold tomato Spaghetti salad.

I had this in the same restaurant, It was made with local products only!

Local Korean restaurants serve their own variety of “Re men/cold ramen”!
Very tasty indeed and always serve dwith a slice of fruit in it!

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Mango Cheesecake

August 28, 2010 dragonlife 2 Comments

When it comes to sweets in Summer, it is not always easy to satisfy yourself or your friends. Especially cakes tend to become either too heavy or too light.
The Japanese have struck the right balance with their notion of cheesecakes.
Here is a simple recipe that should please everyone, be the adults or kids!
Keep in mind this is the basic recipe. Obviously you can add for taste all kinds of liqueurs!

Mango Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS: For an 18 cm diameter mold (12 inches)

-Cream cheese: 250 g
-Sugar: 80 g
-Frozen mango: 100 g
-Eggs: 3 large
-Plain yoghurt (Before drainage. Sieve it through a coffe drip paper filter): 500 g
-Cornstarch: 40 g
-Cholate chips cookies: 150 g
-Margarine: 70 g

RECIPE:

– Bring back cream cheese to room temperatue. Drain water from yoghurt.

-Heat the margarine for 30 seconds in the microwave at 600 Watts.

-Drop the chocolate chips cookies in a food processor and break them up. Add the margarine and mix.

-Spread the cookies mixture over the bottom of the mold. Use a mold with a bottom that can be lifted up, or line th mold withh baking paper (oil it a bit then). Leave the mold inside the refrigerator.

-Drop in a (cleaned) processor the cream cheese, sugar, frozen mango, eggs (and liqueurs or other options) and mix well.

-Pour the mixture into a bowl, Add the drained yoghurt and mix with a hand whisker.

-Add the cornsrach and mix well.

-Pour the cheesecake into the mold over the biscuit mixture.

-Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. lower temperature to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for 50~55 minutes.

-Cool down the cake completely before unmolding it.

-Easy, ain’t it?

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Halloween Chocolate Chou

August 26, 2010 dragonlife 4 Comments

Halloween is not that far away and people will be looking for new ideas.
I personaly am looking forward to it as I need a welcome shiver in this hellish heat!
Here is a simple recipe for a universal favorite, chou or chou a la creme in French, to enjoy with your children and sweet-toothe adult friends!

Halloween Chocolate Chou!

INGREDIENTS: Enough for 30 small choux

Chocolate Custard
-Milk: 2 cups/400 ml/cc
-Sweet chocolate of your choice, crumbled: 1 cup/200 ml/cc
-Flour: 2 tablespoons
-Cornstarch: 2 tablespoons
-Unsalted butter: 20 g
-Vanilla essence: a few drops

Whipped cream:
-Fresh cream: 1 cup/200 ml/cc

Chou pastry:
-Butter: 100 g
-Water: 180 ml/cc
-Flour: 100 g
-Egg yolks: 4
-Red liquid coloring: 5 measure spoons (such spoons are usually sold together with the coloring)
-Yellow Liquid coloring: 5 measure spoons
Experiment with the coloring

Decoration:
-Chocolate: as appropriate

RECIPE:

-Heat milk to lukewarm. Add butter, flour, and cornstarch. Mix well. Heat in microwave oven at 600 Watts for 3 minutes. Mix from time to time.

-In a separate bowl, melt the chocolate over a bain-marie. Add vanill essence and mix. Take off fire and add milk mixture. Mix well.

-Pass the chocolate custard through a sieve.

-That’s how it should look!

-In a separate bowl mix the water with coloring liquid.

-Drop the butter into a pan with the colored water. Heat and stir until the butter has completely melted. Switch off fire when liquid starts boiling.

-Add sieved flour and mix with spatula.

-Mix until smooth.
Switch on fire again. Mix with spatula.
Once the diugh starts detaching easily from the bottom of the pan, siwtch off fire.

-Add egg yolks one at a time and mix well until smooth before adding the next yolk.

-On an oven plate lined with cooking paper, make 30 choux. keep them separate by about 5 cm/2 inches. Spray them with a water atomizer a little before baking them.

-Bake at 190 degrees Celsius for 25~30 minutes.

-Take choux out and let cool completely.

-Whip the fresh cream until consistent enough.
Cut choux in halves.
Fill them with whipped cream. Top the cream delicately with the other chou half as shown above.

-Put the chocolate custard into a pastry bag and fill the choux with chocolate custard so as to hide the whipped cream. Decorate with chocolate.

Have fun and do not hesitate to experiment (other colors?)!

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Double Cheese Chou

August 25, 2010 dragonlife 7 Comments

The Japanese love their chou a la creme! Actually they call them chou cream! Mixing up connections? They particularly love the small version/petit chou that you would not find easily in shops in Europe or America. In this country they are everywhere!

Here is a typical Japanese version:
Double Cheese Chou!

INGREDIENTS: Enough for 6 fairly big (by Japanese standards!) choux (plural with an “x”!)

Chou Pastry:
-Unsalted butter: 30g
-Water: 20 ml/cc
-Milk: 20 ml/cc
-White sugar: 1/2 teaspoon
-Salt: a pinch
-Flour: 30 g
-Egg: 1

Cheese Custard Cream:
-Milk: 200 ml/cc/1 cup
-White sugar: 50 g
-Flour: 30 g
-Egg yolks: 2
-Vanilla Essence: a few drops

Cheese Whipped Cream:
-Fresh cream: 100 ml/cc/1/2 cup
-White sugar: 1 + 1/2 teaspoons
-Cream Cheese: 40 g

RECIPE:

-Cheese Custard Cream:
In an oven bowl sieve in flour and sugar. Add milk little by little and mix well.

-Add the cream cheese after crumbling it between your fingers. Wrap with cellophane paper. Put in microwave for 2 minutes at 500 Watts.

-Take off cellophane paper at once. Mix thoroughly with a hand whisker. Add egg yolks and mix well again.

-Wrap with cellophan paper again and put back into microwave oven for 2 minutes at 500 Watts. Take out cellophane paper. Mix well until smooth. Add vanilla essence and mix well again.

-Transfer into a fridge dish. Cover well with cellophane paper so as to prevent cream from drying. Mixing again with a saptula from time to time will help cream to chill more quickly.

-Chou pastry:
Sieve flour.
In a pan drop butter, milk, water, sugar and salt. Mix and cook over a medium high fire.

-Mixing with a spatula melt butter with other ingredients. Once the butter has completely melted and started “boilin”, add all flour and mix quickly with spatula.

-Once the water has evaporated take away from fire and mix again energetically.

-Once the pastry has become smooth and uniform and can be easily detached from the bottom of the pan, add betaen eggs little by little and mix weel until smooth.

-The pastry will be ready when it becomes “bright” and slightly adhere to the spatula.

-On a oven plate lined with baking paper place 6 balls of pastry with a spoon. Keep them sufficiently separated from each other.

-Wet the tips of your fingers with water and shape the balls. Don’t worry too much about the aspect. As long as they are roughly rounded, no problem!

-Lightly spray them with water and bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 10~15 minutes ir until they have completely risen.

-Once they have completely risen lower temperature to 170 degrees Celsius and bake for 15~20 more minutes. Do not open oven halway and make sure to lower the temperature!

-Take chou out and let cool completely.

Cheese whipped cream:
-Bring cheese cream temperature to room temperature. Warm it up inside microwave oevn to soften. Don’t overheat it, just soften it! Transfer into a bowl

-Beat the cheese with a hand whisker until smooth. Add sugar and fresh cream and whisk until fluffy and light.

-Cut chou cream in halves and fill bottom halves with cheese custard using a spoon.

-Cover cheese custard with cheese whipped cream with a pastry bag. Top the whole delicately with the chou upper half.

Not that difficult, is it?

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Where to eat locally grown organic vegetables in Shizuoka

August 24, 2010 dragonlife 2 Comments

Salad of organic vegetables from Bio Farm at Uzu

It is one thing to know that Shizuoka Prefecture is getting deserved fame for the quality and variety of its vegetables all year round and especially organic vegetables, but it is another to know where, or more precisley in which restaurants, to savour them in good company.
We are presently blessed with three restaurants in Shizuoka City (still looking for more in the whole Prefecture!) which not only serve them but can arrange full vegetarian and vegan meals on request!

UZU

Deep-fried organic potatoes from Bio Farm

Service: excellent, easy-going and very friendly
Facilities: great washroom, great cleanliness overall
Prices: very reasonable, good value.
Strong points: Very fresh local ingredients, especially organic vegetables extensively used. Local sake. Home-made umeshu. Great shochu list.

Uzu is arguably the best Izakaya in the whole Prefecture having won accolades from its peers, national medias and gastronme writers.
Although they serve all kinds of food, vegetarian and omnivores, they make organic vegetables their specialty. Most of them are grown at Matsuki Bio Farm in Shibakawa, Fujinomiya City at the foot of Mount Fuji.

Check their homepage as they update it as the menu changes, which is almost everyday as they serve only seasonal food.

UZU-4

Vegetables Shabu shabu

UZU
Shizuoka City, Otowa-cho, 3-18
Tel.: 054-249-6262
Business hours: 17:00=23:00
Closed on Mondays and first Tuesday
Reservations recommended
Credit cards OK
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)

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TETSUYA SUGIMOTO

Ranking：
Service: Highly professional and friendly
Equipment: Great overall cleanliness. Beautiful washroom
Prices:~
Strong points:Freshest produce and ingredients only, mainly from Shizuoka Prfecture. Organic vegetables. Seasonal food only
Map (Japanese)
Entirely non-smoking!

If you happen to visit Shizuoka City, you will find many restaurants and izakayas serving and mainly using produce/products and ingredients from Shizuoka Prefecture. There are many treasures to be discovered in this hoard!
One of them is the French restaurant going by the name of Sugimoto Tetsuya!

If you can read Japanese you will know what is waiting for you inside!
A gastronomic paradise in Shizuoka Prefecture!
Mr. Sugimoto does everything by himself: chef, waiter and entertainer! This is real slow food in its true and best meaning!
Almost all ingredients are from Shizuoka Prefecture, be they vegetables, fruit, meat or fish!
But his specialty is organic vegetables from Shizuoka Prefecture!
I requested that particular dish to feature only produce for Shizuoka Prefecture only.

All these were organic vegetables grown by different farmers in Hamamatsu City.
The dish included egg-plants/aubergines, 3 varieties of zucchini, tomato and “manganji” Chili pepper.

To give you an idea how Mr. Sugimoto works, all vegetables were first sauteed separately and cooked in the oven before served with two different dressings:
-Olive oil and orange juice
-Framboise/raspberry vinegar

Tetsuya SUGIMOTO
420-0038 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Umeya,, ２－１３，１Ｆ
Tel./Fax: 054-251-3051
Opening hours：１１：３０～１４：３０，１７：３０～２１：３０
Holidays: undecided
Cedit cards OK
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PISSENLIT

Great food is great food!
Be you vegan, vegetarian or omnivore, one can only appreciate and being thankful for savouring vegetables not only of the best quality, but local and organically grown to boot!
I will never tire of saying to everyone how lucky we are here in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, a region renown nationally and increasingly internationally for its exceptional gastronomy!

Pissenlit, with Uzu and Tetsuya Sugimoto is is generally considered as one of the “Shizuoka City Triumvirate” when it comes to healthy, local and sublime gastronomy.
Chef Tooru Arima has many contacts in the Prefecture and it is always a good idea what’s available as it can change very quickly. He is particularly fond of oraganic vegetables grown by Mr. Hideyaki Hirokawa in Mishima City

Even if I have nurtured a special relation with chef Tooru Arima (and many others), he he is only too happy to oblige with his custon\mers’ selfish requests!