Located near the center of mainland Japan, the Aichi Prefecture is often overshadowed by neighboring Kyoto and Osaka, but travelers would be remiss not to stop in Nagoya, the country's 4th largest city, to experience its local cuisine and fascinating history.
Known for specialty food products such as white soy sauce, tsukudani fish, and premium quality matcha, Aichi prefecture has a culinary tradition as rich as the dark red hatcho miso that flavors the soups and sauces you’ll find in this region.
Also known as the “home of the Samurai,” the sword-wielding warriors who descended from Aichi made some of the most important contributions to Japanese history.
Join MOFAD in partnership with The Greene Space for a virtual exploration of the Aichi Prefecture. Led by food writer, photographer and Aichi food ambassador Michael Harlan Turkell, we’ll learn about this region's unique history and culinary traditions with host of Japan Eats Akiko Katayama, Nagoya-based dancer Kazumasa Nishikawa, and Aichi-born celebrity chef Sachie Nomura. We’ll also get a lesson in Japanese craftsmanship from master bladesmith Murray Carter who studied in Japan under the apprenticeship of Sensei Yasuyuki Sakemoto, whose family custom forged samurai swords for some of Japan’s most influential feudal lords.
During the evening, Chef Sachie Nomura will teach us how to make one of her favorite traditional dishes from Aichi, Miso Katsu.
The Aichi ingredient box is SOLD OUT but if you’d like to order the products directly, links are included below:
A long fermentation time of about two years produces a dark brown (chocolate-like), firm textured miso. Hatcho miso has a distinctive soybean flavor and slight sweet aroma. Great for making miso soup, simmered dishes, and to make original miso. This miso is matured in authentic wooden tubs for over two years. It is naturally fermented and additive-free, said to have been favored by the first Edo Shogun, and health food connoisseur, Tokugawa Ieyasu.
In stark contrast to "dark" soy sauce, white tamari is made up of only wheat, salt and water. This product is essentially a white soy sauce, which traditionally is mostly wheat and a little bit of soybean. Nitto Jozo uses locally grown wheat, Japanese sea salt, mountain spring water and koji to make their shiro tamari. The nose is strong malty, with koji and white miso notes, which perfectly highlights it's sweet, salty and strong umami flavor. It is used to highlight ingredients in a dish, vinaigrettes, sauces, etc.
A full-flavored select ceremonial grade matcha produced entirely from tender first flush tea leaves. Enjoy straight up, or pour over milk to create a signature matcha latte.
MURRAY CARTER
When he was 18 years old, a trip to Japan led to an unexpected encounter between Murray Carter and an amazing man, Sensei Yasuyuki Sakemoto the 16th Generation Yoshimoto Bladesmith and whose family custom forged samurai swords for some of Japan’s most influential feudal lords. In time, Carter’s relationship with Sensei Sakemoto led to a unique six-year apprenticeship and upon its completion, he was asked to continue on in the 420-year-old family bladesmithing tradition as the 17th Generation Yoshimoto Bladesmith.
Carter worked in Japan as a village bladesmith for 12 more years. He introduced his hand-forged Japanese kitchen knives to the Western market in June 1997 and achieved Master Smith rating through the American Bladesmith Society in June 2001.
In 2005, Carter moved to Oregon and continued his trade. To date, Murray Carter has forged and completed over 25,000 knives, all of which were faithfully crafted using the traditional techniques brought with him from Japan.
Carter maintains strong ties to his roots in Japan, faithfully visiting Sensei Sakemoto and sourcing all of his essential materials from there. The tradition continues as Sensei Sakemoto passed the skills on to Carter so he now takes great pride and pleasure in passing the skills on to the next generation.
AKIKO KATAYAMA
Akiko Katayama is a food writer and Forbes.com columnist based in New York City, and the host and producer of "JAPAN EATS!" , a weekly radio show and podcast on Heritage Radio Network, which introduces Japanese food culture to a global audience.
She is a board member of Heritage Radio Network as the Host Representative. She is also a director of the non-profit organization The New York Japanese Culinary Academy, which promotes a deeper understanding of Japanese cuisine in the US.
Akiko has worked as culinary advisor to the Japanese government and consulted for companies in the food & beverage industry. She also has served as a culinary judge on Food Network’s Iron Chef America multiple times and on Netflix Original The Final Table.
She holds an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business, an MSc from London School of Economics & Political Science and a Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Advanced Certificate with Distinction. She is the author of “A Complete Guide to Japanese Cuisine”.
KAZUMASA NISHIKAWA
Kazumasa is the IEMOTO, headmaster of Nishikawa Ryu, the school of classical Japanese dance (kabuki style) which has a history of 170 years. Attending Nagoya International School from kindergarten to high school, he went to School of Visual Arts to learn modern arts. He is now a dancer, producer, and director creating numerous performances, teaching in 4 colleges, consults inbound tourism using his bicultural background. He is also a manager of Nihon Odori Sports Science, the health program using Japanese dance.
SACHIE NOMURA
Sachie is the Founder and Chef of Sachie’s Kitchen, Australasia’s largest Asian cooking school (www.sachieskitchen.com). Rated as NZ’s Number one cooking school, the business has won a slew of awards, and is regularly featured in the media as one of the ‘To Do’ activities in Auckland and New Zealand. Over 50,000 happy cooks and counting have been delighted by learning Asian food culture from Sachie and her multi-cultural team of chefs in their custom-built facility since 2009.
Originally from Aichi, Japan, Sachie arrived in New Zealand as a university student in the mid 1990’s, attaining a degree in Chinese and a Chinese family-in-laws! Her love for cooking grew as she eagerly watched her mother and auntie’s cooking whilst sharing their knowledge of and passion for generations of family secrets. Having spent a decade being schooled by some of New Zealand and Japan’s leading chefs, Sachie’s dream is to pass on her passion for Asian culture and cuisine by demystifying the perceived complexity of Asian cooking, making it easily replicated at home. Drawing from a variety of sources including traditional family recipes handed down through the generations, Sachie adds her own unique style to her recipes, ensuring fun and tasty Asian food is accessible to everyone.
Sachie is also a well-known food writer and television personality, as an Executive Producer and Host of ‘Sachie’s Kitchen’ a TV show internationally syndicated to 45 countries; and accompanying book released in Australia, NZ, UK & USA. Passionate about raising the profile of women as a female immigrant entrepreneur herself, she has been named as one of New Zealand’s 50 most influential women and one of Auckland University’s 40 under 40.
MICHAEL HARLAN TURKELL
Michael Harlan Turkell is a James Beard award nominated food photographer and cookbook author of "ACID TRIP: Travels in the World of Vinegar", which won an IACP award for Culinary Travel writing. Turkell hosted The Food Seen podcast on Heritage Radio Network for nearly a decade, as well as Modernist BreadCrumbs and Food52's Burnt Toast Season 3. He has also been traveling to Japan for much of the past decade, which inspired his long-running series SUMO STEW—pairing steaming hot bowls of chankonabe with live streaming sumo from the grand tournaments. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
THE GREENE SPACE
The Greene Space channels the collective genius of New York City to create forward-looking live art, theater and journalism that sparks change. WNYC Terms of Use.