PROJECT Setting the Autumn Table

Sep 5, 2024 | Autumn, Kitchen PROJECTS, Tabletop

Setting the Table, Setting the Stage

This PROJECT is about setting the table… to set the stage for autumn’s culinary pleasures.

One simple and fun way to do this is by choosing fall-themed HASHI OKI (choptsick rests). Pictured above are a few of the options: autumnal maple leaves, chestnuts, shimeji mushrooms, persimmons, and SANMA fish.

Do you have any hashi oki ? If not, you can craft some HASHI-BUKURO (sheaths) from origami (folded paper) or other paper.

You can further enhance these hashi-bukuro by drawing images of seasonal motifs on them, or use stamps or stickers to decorate the sheaths.

 

Long, narrow plates are known as SANMA-ZARA (秋刀魚皿) because they are used to plate whole grilled sanma fish. Sanma-zara are also a great way to showcase clusters of food.

 

 

To learn more about SANMA fish, one of Japan’s autumnal culinary pleasures visit my Kitchen Culture blog and read my September, 2024 newsletter.

PROJECT Katsura Muki

PROJECT Katsura Muki

This PROJECT is about learning to make katsura muki, a classic cutting technique in the traditional Japanese kitchen. When done properly, long, flowing, continuous and incredibly thin peels are produced from vegetables such as daikon radish, cucumbers and carrots. In...

Tsutsumu… wrapping, enveloping

Tsutsumu… wrapping, enveloping

Written with calligraphy for “bath” (furo 風呂) and “spread out” (shiki 敷) the word is rather curious for a piece of cloth. It seems the origins hark back to the Muromachi Period (1336-1573 AD) when Daimyo lords would spread out a cloth in which to wrap their clothing...

PROJECT Tsutsumu

PROJECT Tsutsumu

Wrapped foods are varied. Sometimes parchment or foil is used to enclose foods before they are cooked. Other times the wrappers are edible making pop-in-your-mouth savory packets. Below, two examples for you to try in your kitchen. Enjoy!包み蒸し Archaeological evidence...

Escape the Lingering Heat

Escape the Lingering Heat

The ancient, lunar-based koyomi almanac marks the start of autumn with risshū 立秋. When hot weather continues beyond that time, the phenomenon is referred to as zansho 残暑, literally "lingering heat." On the Gregorian calendar, this year (2025) risshū arrived on August...

Recent Posts & Projects