Tokyo – Japanese Fish Knives

February 2, 2010

When visiting the fish market for a sushi lunch, we passed by a cutlery shop: Masahisa Azuma Minamaoto-no. Many different knives were on display, but my friend Walter wanted for his wife a special one of the highest quality.

The owner of the shop himself went to sharpen the selected knife in the back of the workshop. What skill on display. we were both extatic, and subsequently, I bought a knife for my wife as well.

Happy customers left the shop, not after our bargaining attempt was refuted in utter disgust.
If you visit the fish market in Tokyo, go and have a look. It’s worth it.

PS: The knife is now doing its job in our kitchen. It turned out to be a superb helper, efficient, clean and fast.

Address:
Azuma Minamoto-no
Masahisa
4-13-7 Tsukiji, Cyuo-ku, Tokyo
Japan 104-0045
Tel.: +81-3-3541-8619
E-Mail: shop-info@tsukiji-masahisa.jp
www.tsukiji-masahisa.jp

How to get there? Map

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Australia day 2010

January 26, 2010

I started the day with a lemington, a sponge cake and one of the two Australian national desserts (the other one is Pavlowa). It’s Australia’s national day again.

On 26 January 1788 the so called first fleet landed at Sydney Cove and today Australians are commemorating this event. Also we did celebrate, though muted. It was a normal school day for the children and a normal working day for the parents.

Morton Premium Brut

But we cracked a bottle of sparkling tonight which we had with the celery risotto. The sparkling came from New Zealand, which was given to us by our former neighbors Alain and Keiko. It was a ‘Morton Premium Brut’ (Methode Traditionnelle, no vintage), made of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, a blend from Hawkes Bay and Marlborough grapes. It’s a very creamy bubbly with buttery yeast aromas, easy to drink (12% Vol.). The wines won a couple of silver medals in 2008, 2007 and 2006. It also gained some recognition in a few wine buyers guides (for instance Michael Coopers Buyers Guide).

Celery risotto

It was an enjoyable family meal, an evening like many others for us here in Bangkok. But we raised the glass and toasted to our beloved “island down under”. Cheers

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Burns Supper 2010 in Bangkok

January 25, 2010

Water taxi on San Saep Khlong

We took the water taxi on the San Saep Khlong at the end of Thonglor in order to join the 255 million people worldwide who were celebrating the life of the great bard of the Scots, Robert Burns. In fact his birthday is today on 25th January.

We felt great knowing that we would be among his followers again, drinking, eating the haggis, and listening to the various addresses and speeches, and at the end singing together ‘Auld lang syne’. The Bangkok St. Andrew Society Burns Supper is a wonderful event. We had been there last year, therefore, the 2010 celebration was ‘a must not miss’ on our social schedule for the year.

Crossing the road near Amari Watergate Hotel

Amari Watergate Hotel, Bangkok

About 90 to 100 faithful, Scots and their friends from all walks of life, had gathered at the Amari Watergate Hotel. We arrived an hour early (we had missed an e-mail) but spend the time enjoying a glass of white wine and talking to some of the other members of the Society.

The welcome by the Chieftain

After the Chieftains’ welcome and the toast to the King of Thailand, the Selkirk Grace, a prayer was said by Caroline Elliot. After that the haggis was piped in by Mike Brooks and toasted by us, the guests. The address to the haggis was delivered by Chieftain Willie Christie.

The address to the haggis

We enjoyed the haggis, neeps and latties, and had a jolly good time meeting old friends and making news ones. The highlights were ‘The Toast to the Lassies’ delivered by our good old friend Rab Thomas and the reply, ‘The Lassies response’ by Kirsty Hastie Smith. Both excellent speeches which delighted the audience.

Rab Thomas and Basjia

All kind of entertainment followed, songs and poems performed by Dan Fagan, Kirsty Hastie Smith and Mike Brooks. I do not remember all the details any more, because the bottle of Ballantine’s Whisky on our table found its way into my glass. I only took a photo of the Scottish cheeses but the food was delicious overall and I liked the sea-bass entree, the broth and the haggis as well as the dessert.

The cheese platter

Way after the official end of the event, we somehow made our way home successfully, utterly satisfied, we had had good food, plenty of drink and great company. As every year my pledge is to read some more of Robert Burns’ poems. Also German Celts from the Mosel can enjoy and appreciate Scotland’s favorite son, the Ploughman Poet, the Bard of Ayrshire.

If you have the chance to somehow somewhere be invited to a Burns Supper, accept the kind offer and engulf in Scottish tradition.

PS: My first Burns Supper was in the early 1990ies in the Palace Hotel in Beijing. During my recent visit, I passed by reminiscing about golden days gone bye. The hotel is renamed now but the large flower pot near the entrance which was generously nourished by my old friend, the late David McGrath, when we took our bodies home at 4 in the freezing winter’s morning, was still there.

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Seat of the gods

January 20, 2010

When flying from Tokyo to Beijing, I thought of the many blog entries which I would create over the weekend in the Chinese capitals. When visiting China in mid December last year, wordpress (to my surprise) could be accessed and I produced some pieces for The Man from Mosel River. But not so this time. The censors barred any access and I could not update you on any development.

You might have notices that my stories are heavily dependent on the photos which I take. In fact it is all about the photos, and I weave my stories around them. I always take my little but now old Olympus digital camera with me. Sometimes the shots are not worth being used and I always take more pics than I might use for any story.

Well to cut a long story short. The flight was only half full. I leaned back and contemplated about the week’s program in Tokyo and the many interesting discussions and exchanges we had had. Then very of a sudden I realised: we are flying past Mount Fuji. I rushed to get my camera and took a couple of shots of the majestic sacred mountain.

The seat of the gods: Mt. Fuji

All Nippon Airlines was generous with food and drink. I had quite a few bottles of French Chardonnay, the best you could get in economy class on that flight. I toasted the gods on the mountaintop, utterly content.

French Chardonnay

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A place for introspection and worship and…..

January 13, 2010

Takayama Shinto Shrine

Nestled away near Shinagawa station in the bustling city of Tokyo there is the Takayama Shinto Shrine: a place of quiet contemplation, a place to worship, a place for introspection.

Just a quick turn from the main street, climb some stairs, and you can escape from the city, the noise, and the traffic. Amazing. I love these havens for the soul.

And right next to it, the JR station Shinagawa, with its many people, busy like a beehive, a group of young Japanese beauties are celebrating their 20th birthday in style. What a wonderful world this is.

11 January 20th birthday celebration: to attain full age is sweet

Life is beautiful. No wine for me today.

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Let there be wine in 2010

December 31, 2009

Pokal of German Riesling

Another year is coming to an end. And what a year this was. We were almost wiped out by the wild fires in February. We had no vintage and no income from the grapes but bought a new traktor. We had sufficient rains but grape prices in Australia promise to be the lowest in recent history which does not bode well for Two Hills our little boutique vineyard in Gelburn, Victoria. So what will 2010 bring for us small vintners?

Many grape growers have pulled out their vines. Thousands of hectares of vines are no more. This is most likely not enough to save the price slide. Many more of us will have to give up and/or supplement their incomes with off-farm work.

There are quite a few “lifestyle” people among us. They will have to decide if the price of “their hobby” is still affordable for another year. Then there are the pure investors, some of them lured into grape growing out of taxation reaons. They will be the first to abondon the industry for greener pastures or just walk away from their losses.

Some of us are the ever optimists banking on the future such as myself. “It will all come good”, one day or not at all, but we hang in there for the love and the passion and the satisfaction growing a good product which will reward our efforts. “Bring it on”, one more time, and let the wheel of life run another circle.

This is my last post for 2009. I will end my three years of wine and food blogging with a total of 401 blog entries. Uff, I made it. This means that every 2.6 days I prepared a new piece during the last 36 months. I am chuffed but not sure if I can keep this up. I have still not found an answer to the question: Shall I continue or do something else? Would that mean to stop drinking wine and eating good food?

I will keep on contemplating about this conundrum.

Another year in Bangkok is coming to an end. The last 16 months since our arrival were quite busy, full of change and excitement. We have not seen much of Thailand as yet but there is, god willing, still some time for that.

Tonight, the four of us will join the Bangkok St. Patricks Society’s New Years Eve party on a boat on the Chao Phraya river. I guess we will have a couple of drinks, maybe dance, and we will celebrate the end of another year on this plante and welcome 2010.

I will let you know how it went. But let me say: Happy New year to all of you. God bless you.

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What a vintner needs

December 29, 2009

A cup of tea, a digital camera, a hat, a note book, a pen, a tape measure (?), glasses (old vintners do), some coins and a knife.

Anything missing?

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“Second-Christmas-Day” Party

December 27, 2009

The 26 December is called the “2nd Christmas day” in my native Germany. Since my father’s birthday fell on the 25 and was not celebrated because of Christmas, the 2nd Christmas day was usually the day his friends came to visit and congratulate him for his birthday.

Well, in this quasi tradition, we invited friends and acquaintances to our humble home for a Christmas barbecue, merging German and Australian customs of our family. I was very busy grilling pork and chicken, therefore no photos of the results of my labour at my “Weber grill”. Moreover, I grilled some veggies for the vegetarians among us (I was commended for the quality and the good taste). Margit had made various potato and bean salads; we had greens and white bread.

There are also no photos of the wines we consumed. Just two of the desserts. But a heck of a party it was. The 9 adults and the 9 children had a good time, as the two photos below show.

The “long” table

From 4 to 58 years old, 18 people around the table

The desserts:

Le Notre, the best dessert maker in town

The home made Pawlowa, Australian delight

Matthias and Beatrice had provided most of the wine (and the Le Notre dessert). We drank some beautiful drops. Here are the highlights:

– ‘2005 Rocky Passes Syrah’ (our last bottle) was perfect for the event: a Christmas party Australian style. It’s a beautiful example of cool climate Shiraz from our Upper Goulburn Wine Region. Vitto Oles makes great wines. James Halliday gave the 2005 Syrah 94 points.

– ‘2007 Altenkirch dry Riesling’, Lorch, Rheingau/Germany. Friedrich Altenkirch is a very well known vintner. Some of his wines were just rewarded silver and bronze medals at the International Wine Challenge and the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards. The 2007 Riesling is young and fizzy, a solid German wine. The wine-maker, Tomoko Kuriyama, comes from Japan not a common trait of German wineries.

– ‘2005 Château La Raze Beauvallet, Cru Bourgeois’ from Medoc, Bordeaux, France. The château (45 ha) is owned by the Sourice family and has retained the original ‘cru Bourgeois’ classification from the 1930s because of the wine quality. The wine style is fruity and soft, easy to drink.

Needless to say, we had some bubbly as well, mostly from Taltarni, Australia. We will do this again.

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Merry Christmas 2009

December 25, 2009

Hi folks, it’s Christmas again and I wish all of you the best of all festive seasons. Cheers

Christmas time is “sparkling time” it seems. We bought a whole collection, some in prices reduced. At the moment we drink a lot of Taltarni, Australia and Prosecco by Cascine, Italy, both wonderful for any occasion, and moderately prced even by Thai standards. We are drinking lashings of it. Enjoy

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My life as a “food and wine” blogger

December 19, 2009

When a couple of weeks ago I read on Wannabe Wino that she (Sonadora, but she does not provide her real name) had completed her third year as a blogger, I was reminded that my own three-year-anniversary was approaching fast (at the end of December).

Sonadora has completed her third anniversary with a record of 1076 posts in 1096 days, I thought how wonderful. But it made me also think about my own up-coming three year anniversary.

I then also counted. At that time I thought that even if I were very industrious for the rest of the month, I will not surpass 400 blog entries. Now I am only nine more entries to go. This (the 400 in 1096 days) makes an average of 2.6 days for one entry. I think that’s not bad for someone who has a demanding day job, lots of travel to do, a family, and consequently only evenings for preparing his entries.

However, when I read through my various entries I somehow feel that my life seems to be rather repetitive. So far I did not run out of stories but the stories are very much shaped by the way I live, whom I know, whom I meet and where I go, my habits so to say. How can that be interesting for a stranger.

My statistics look good, the general trend is still pointing upwards. But I am contemplating about stopping my blog altogether. I ask myself why I am still doing it? What are my motives? Should I not spend my precious time doing something else, engage in some physical exercise for instance instead of sitting behind a laptop at night (after I sat behind a desk top for 8-10 hours at work).

So why do I blog? Well, it provides a framework for storytelling. After all we humans love the narrative. Moreover, I disciplines myself. I have to write and keep writing, writing and collecting, and researching of course. I usually make some sort of “investigation”, check out websites and thereby learn a great deal about food and wine and the people who’s passion this is. Yeah, I learn a lot.

Another benefit is “staying in touch”. Living in foreign lands makes it difficult to stay in touch with family and friends. By updating my blog, people can learn about my movements, my thoughts and my life. And I do not to have write letter.

So do I want to miss this? I don’t know. Have to embark on some more introspection, I guess.
Have a good weekend folks. Cheers

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