The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Japan

RobynNZ's picture
RobynNZ

Today 11 March is the first anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster. On the island I live on people gathered at a beach this morning in remembrance. Our beaches were closed by the tsunami warnings last year and of course there have been a series of major earthquakes in Christchurch - we identify with the people of Japan.

I was asked to be a volunteer for a fundraising initiative, by the respected Japanese culinary author, Elizabeth Andoh. She had come up with a plan to develop a book based on Tohoku cuisine. Her publishers, Ten Speed Press,  suggested that it be an ebook. The volunteers tested Elizabeth's recipes and provided feedback on the book's content, which is rich not only with recipes but with background and with heart. Guidance for vegan versions is also given. The book, KIBO, is being sold online for under $US4,  a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Japan's recovery efforts. My final task as a volunteer is to spread the word.

So here is a link to an excerpt of KIBO for those of you interested to take a look:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/81496605/Excerpt-and-Recipes-From-Kibo-by-Elizabeth-Andoh

I am to lead a tour group to Japan in April (sadly last year our tour was cancelled), the tour will last a fortnight and then I'll have a further fortnight's private stay, with friends. Since I was last in Japan I joined TFL and learned a lot more about the bakeries there. I really enjoyed Pat's (proth5) and Jeffrey Hamelman's blog reports from Paris this last week and hope to check out the bread made by the bakeries the members of the winning Japan team come from. 

Robyn

Please note I received Floyd's approval before making this post.

RobynNZ's picture

@Copyu - Japan Earthquake/Tsunami

March 11, 2011 - 4:31pm -- RobynNZ
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Copyu, I do hope that you, your family and friends are safe and back together following the earthquake. I saw footage at the time of the quake taken in Ushiku which if I'm right is over your way. That looked very frightening, a very long shake/shakes, I can't imagine what that was like. And today serious earthquakes in Niigata, I guess that's a separate event......so unnerving.

RobynNZ's picture

Bread machines- France:instant! Japan:Rice

February 20, 2011 - 5:59pm -- RobynNZ

Couldn't resist sharing a link to David Lebovitz's post:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/02/the-french-bread-machine/

 

and how about Sanyo's GoPan!  This rice bread machine was released in November and has been a hit in Japan with sales beyond their projections. In Japanese cooked rice is called 'gohan' and bread is called 'pan' so they've come up with a cute name for the machine  combining the kanji for rice and kana for bread  and assigning the pronunciation GoPan (米ぱん)

copyu's picture

Stand mixer query

August 11, 2010 - 6:13am -- copyu
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Large mixers are very rare in Japan. None are offered in the major electrical goods shops, probably because kitchen space is at a premium. I saw a 'DeLonghi' in CostCo, once, [about $250] and recently came across the 'Bosch Compact' [about $400] in a baking supply store. That's it! CostCo Japan hasn't stocked any large mixers for the past 8  to 12 months

Glacrwlf's picture

Petalite baking stone?

December 16, 2009 - 10:56am -- Glacrwlf

Has anyone ever heard of the mineral called "Petalite"? It's a lithium feldspar that, when used to bake, radiates infrared rays that exceed that of a stone oven. It's supposed to create really good bread! I watched "Yakitate!! Japan" to find that out. Can I really use it in clay, and more importantly, can I use it to make a mold with volcanic rock? Please help me!

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