If you are an avid foodie, chef, cook, culinary creator or whatever you should read this article to discover something a seventh sense of taste and if you travel to Japan there is one Japanese kappo restaurant I wouldn’t miss and thats Myoujaku.

Many restaurant customers, foodies, chefs, cooks or hobbyists such as myself do not have a full sense of appreciation of a chefs’ craft and sometimes the context. Mostly we are consumed more by the experience-performance which is more and more normal. The complexities and focus of any chef varies and in a very specific way is defined by how he/she thinks, acts and uses their craft to define their work.

Over the years umami has taken over a a driving force and all over the globe and monosodium glutamate has influenced many people to savour umami, and this is where Tanmi comes into play. I started to think more and more about umami after a meal at Tokyo’s Myoujaku one of the greatest examples of how important it is to think about what you eat ,whenever you go to a restaurant: https://myoujyaku.com/ and the chef Nakamura, a genius in his own right.

A genius dish, and I say that because of my experience both in cooking and eating helps define my interest in cuisine. It’s not only about the taste it’s about the idea of how you transpose mother nature (natural taste) and create this particular intersection between the seasonality of raw materials and the interpretation of how flavour and taste intersect and why. It is true many culinary experiences intersect but more diverge away from the essentials in mother nature, and not just mother nature itself.

Each person, imagines and signifies the importance of mother nature some prioritize, their work, in consideration of mother nature the reflection of light, how we see moss, growing on a hillside shadowed, but given the right nutrition. This is the of cuisine which involves Tanmi.

Tanmi is simple and complex and explains a large part of its much slower ascent into widespread subtly and awareness as it reflects a balancing point and is quite far away umami what we often crave and is more about freshness and purity.

That could be seen as going to far in describing a simple dish but now think about permanence, think about the idea of an idea, and then its not permanent any longer as it is transposed. Any idea becomes significant as an idea when it is used in a popular way.

The idea of examing the structure of an idea and realizing it has universal merit we can collectively recognize molecular cuisine as a significant development. Idea of the technique faded away very quickly, although it was very popular in the minds of many ships in customers. I think the singer Morgan aspect of molecular Cuisine is the structure, the science and the idea of understanding how chemicals and molecules work together.

It was never something that I could say I felt satisfied by, but it wasn’t important in that regard. What made it important was the science of food, and how it intersects with the work we do in the kitchen, and how we transposed the idea of taste.

At the same time when I think about Ferran, I think about Rene Redzepi, (Noma) the modern father and how he connects with the idea of how to best interpret nature and use it in a way, which is exciting without deleting the excitement and performance maintaining a philosophy and thought process in his work.

I was fortunate to be invited by my brother to taste the pop up in Kyoto, and it was certainly an extraordinary experience. The dishes were thoughtful, and the work that was undertaken showed the research behind it. The connection with customer, farmers, fishermen and artisans, is an obvious sign of a person who sees the bigger picture. What is the bigger picture ….and is it important….yes it is and the same way Tanmi is important in the bigger picture.

I am sure if you look at any culinary experience, and you rank them by order, it would be difficult to overlook the importance of how a chef interprets any culinary journey without a focus on taste; flavours and the structure of a meal, the journey itself defined by his thinking and his work….the craft is an important part of how any chef thinks.

It is at that time that the idea by itself becomes significant when it becomes incorporated in the culinary language, the language of how chefs work and think and then it becomes an important idea. Otherwise, it’s just the idea of one person and until it becomes a properly identified it stays that way.

If you watched the video above it involves three elements all which symbolize the transition of fall to winter season in Japan. The simplicity of this dish makes it perfect because the daikon is coloured and flavoured by beets, and using the neutrality of the radish, and the seasonal dai-dai squeezed above connects it in the right way: the dai-dai is a small, bitter, and acidic fruit that originated in the Himalayas is a fruit grown in Japan for a very limited period of time at the season of December. The red pepper is what activates the taste and delivers the flavour. It is genius because it is a delicious idea, sensitive and not over bearing, and while he uses red pepper in the right context, it is subtle, creative and interactive and in the right context of the season.

The context is what defines the expectation of the experience so the context is framing the picture like a picture frame. Context gives you the idea of how to pass proper judgement and with context, we can begin to have a better process and evaluation, but what are we really evaluating?…

As we know taste personal subjective, so if something tastes good, that means it’s good… but that would mean that whatever would be good for one person wouldn’t necessarily be good for another person. And so the idea of popularity is important in defining a certain context and not more.

Look at California wine and it has lots of fruit and richness due to the fact that’s California and warm weather produces a more luscious fruit. For many wine lovers that’s principally important but for other wine consumers who have different knowledge and experience, they will take the context of California wine within its context and pass it over, or drink it infrequently. We can begin to develop judgement and perspective in the the context of wine in general as we drink and experience more and learn about terroir. In order to have proper judgment, we have to measure context defined as: the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood. Once we have a greater perspective we begin to understand wines more and place them in the right context.

So to place the context of any food, it’s important to understand the circumstances, and setting to have a better understanding which is based principally on experience, knowledge and impartiality. We all need to find something more than what thats tastes good because we all like ‘good taste’ but it takes more than that to judge any topic taste, visual art or sound, etc.

So many eat with their guts maybe that’s just a way of defining taste, taste preferences the way we enjoyed to eat something that makes us feel warm and good rather than making us reflect. I ate smoked pork, a homemade broth and some syugoza and it was delicious and thats imprtant. Not every second take is profound.

The idea of ‘umami’ and the idea of how it is overused because the savoury intense glutamates dominate our palates and we savour that taste as a top priority. It’s almost as if people aren’t meant to think what they eat, and they are just supposed to taste. And good taste is what matters to most people and that’s why there are fast food chains all over the globe successfully, serving millions of people and profiting.

Sometimes we don’t even have time to think what we’re eating we just eat because we’re hungry and we eat what we like. What makes us feel good that’s what foods boat for 99.9% of us. That’s why it’s difficult for us to separate the sensation of a good idea with the basic idea of fulfilment and satisfaction.

Tanmi after 40 years of being a food lover, I wasn’t aware of this taste evaluation yet I was instantaneously intrigued. When I looked it up in more detail I saw the word defies translation as many Japanese words do and it translates as ‘plain” and ‘light taste’. But when I took the first bite at Myoujaku I was blown away, it was a sudden understanding and connection to a place I once ate some 40 years ago in the hands of chef Nakahigashi of Miyamasou.

I am quite sure it was the purity of a mountain breeze or the splashes of the seas of Japan that are all a part of your culinary journey. The idea and influence and purity dominates the idea of whats before you, and you are on a new journey as if a new world of taste I once cherished was renewed. The power of mother nature and having the opportunity to travel on a culinary journey in a Tokyo restaurant.

I quickly realized Tanmi as a word describes the importance of preserving the seasonal raw materials we all use and savour. The craftsmanship of the chef, and how he uses the season ingredients to bring the seasonal flavours together to create this journey of taste was magnificent.

In fact, it’s a word which I have been searching, because the first time I tasted Tanmi was at Esquisse in Ginza and chef Lionel Beccat works with a thoughtfulness, a critical pathway of testing his own belief system and keeping them in check. Its one’s knowledge to dissect and preserve the integrity of his farmers and fisherman and bring forward the expression through your own craft.

In so many ways, we ignore the subtleness of taste, and that’s the great challenge to any chef. No doubt, most people who eat are looking to have a grand sensory experience. I discovered it at Myoujaku I am not the only one who believes in the ‘delicate touch’ and the emphasizing and importance of the season, by not covering the taste with our own preferences, but more, leaving the idea of how we can enhance and express flavours. And the contrast of flavours by using ingredients, combinations you trust, and the contrast is in the right context, which means you bring balance and respect.