Coming of Autumn

Episode 2:  

  October has come, and the weather become cooler. As autumn begins to enfold, we enjoy seeing autumn leaves turn to yellow and red in the fall.

  In Japan, there are dishes that are best in each season.  Autumn is the best season to taste Japanese sake which goes very well with seafood dishes. Sanma or Pacific saury, Brevoort is a typical autumn food. A popular and delicious autumn ingredients are mushrooms, chestnuts and salmon. Among them, Matsutake mushrooms are the kings of fall flavor.

  The other day we had a lunch at a Japanese restaurant, "Hinokizaka" in Roppongi. We had a glass of “sake”(rice wine) as an aperitif, which is a bit strong to me, but tasty. When sake sinks, words swim!

The main dishes were covered by a basket like a bird cage.  Japanese pampas grass were decorated on top of it. When the cover was taken out, a variety of seasonal dishes such as chestnut, fish and Tofu dishes were beautifully arranged. We enjoyed seasonal delicacy and a sense of autumn.