Cooking demonstrations: bentô and the California maki
Diving into the secrets of Japanese gastronomy: from the art of bentô to the home-made California maki, you are now ready to prepare endless Japanese little meals. Watch out for the overdose!
Judging by the crowd gathered at the 15th anniversary stage to watch Hisayuki TAKEUCHI’s bentô demonstration, it’s safe to say that the French hype for these appetizing lunchboxes is to be taken very seriously!
All of you already know this quick little meal served on a box and presented in a unique and out of the ordinary way! Bentô are extremely popular in Japan, they are often home-made and sometimes even with leftovers. These typically Japanese tasting baskets include most of the time rice, proteins, fresh vegetables and fruits. In fact, it’s more than just a simple lunchbox, since this very nutritious and dietary balanced meal is an integral part of the Japanese culture!
Hosted by the Executive Committee of La Semaine du Goût (The Week of Taste), to announce the International bentô contest’s 3rd edition, this demonstration was held by a real Japanese Chef with more than 40 years of experience in the field, and owner of the Kaiseki restaurant in Paris! Mr. TAKEUCHI goes on stage and explains the art of bentô preparation: “You must have the technique, but nothing is done it you don’t put your heart on it too”.
Behind him, the screen displays a video with many different bentô preparations: the bentô with Japanese omelette, the “funny bentô” in a cow shape, and also the “Daddy bentô” balanced with salmon, or the “bentô for all the family” with multicolored sushi. Everything harmoniously arranged to fill the little space there is in a bentô box. With such an amount of colors and shapes, the possibilities are infinite and everything is about the details.
Today, with a range of bio products, Mr. TAKEUCHI shares the love for his job. Before he starts the demonstration, he gives the audience a little quiz test: with an ingredient in his hand, he asks “Do you know what this is called?”. It’s not easy, but there are Japanese culinary experts in the room, and to reward their knowledge, Mr. TAKEUCHI offers them his book “Sushi Bar”. Another surprise also awaits the audience, because the Japanese chef didn’t come empty-ended to Japan Expo: 100 little sushi boxes were distributed among the audience at the end of the demonstration! And as you might imagine, they didn’t last long…
Before the attentive look of the spectators, the Japanese chef prepared a bentô omelette “I’m using five eggs because in Japan, odd lumbers are lucky charms!”, and continues this preparation with salmon. And as a reminder, keep the wise words of Mr. TAKEUCHI in your memory: “It’s above all a practice of the everyday life. You are your own school, your own teacher.”
That’s the same train of thought as Patrick DUVAL’s, a former journalist and specialist of the Japanese gastronomy, who also was at Japan Expo, at the Cultural stage, to introduce all his Japan lovers fans to one of Japan’s gastronomy delights: Maki… these delicious rolled pieces made of nori, vinegared rice and depending on your taste mood, of raw fish, prawns and other things.
Mr. DUVAL gets his inspiration from the greatest sushi masters. He explains “my bet was to prove that everyone could make maki, we just need to learn the technique”. Indeed, the technique is very important, but to be really good at that, you must also know the gestures, learn all you need to know about the fishes you use, amongst other things. It isn’t easy to become really good at preparing maki, it’s a highly respected art in Japan and to perfect it isn’t something you learn overnight.
To catch the attention of his audience, Mr. DUVAL starts his brilliant demonstration of California maki with a little story: back in the 60s and 70s, when sushi wasn’t yet all the rage, “In California, a group of Japanese chefs worked on a small village called “Village Tôkyô” and made really good meals. They thought it was a shame that Americans didn’t know their food specialty and one day, they decided to do something about it”, he says. To attract these new customers, one of them started to sell a new technique in his restaurant, something based on one concept: “it must be visually attractive”. Thanks to this new kind of maki, a taboo was broken in the United States: the consumption of raw fish!
And then the demonstration of uramaki, also known as the California maki. Not that easy, but nothing unsurmountable! One, two, three, and the trick is done! Ready to try?
Were you at these cooking demonstrations? Tell you what you thought of it!
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