Ayu with Hiroko Shimbo

Yesterday I had the pleasure to see Ayu, a Japanese sweetfish, prepared using a few seperate methods. Ayu is cultivated in Japanese streams starting around June and continuing for four months. The fish was quite mild yet rich with a slight bitter aftertaste. It is hard to locate in the U.S., but it is becoming more predominant and has already been added to menus of Per Se and Daniel (seasonally of course). Ayu is quite small and has a life span of about one year only growing to 8-10 inches. It lends it self to grilling, saute, braising, roasting, the works. Typically, the Japanese season the fish and put heavy salt on the fins and tail then grill over very high heat on open flame. Chef Shimbo served it with an acidic watermelon sauce she made with watermelon juice and rice vinegar. The bitterness in the sauce compliments the bitterness in the fish quite well.

There were two parts of the presentation that impressed me. The first, watching Chef Shimbo, a slightly middle aged, incredibly petite woman, getting all up in her business. I cringed several times as I knowingly watched her grab incredibly hot items with bare hands without hesitation. She loved the food, the tradition, the perfection involved in Japanese cuisine and it was quite interesting to watch through a language and cultural barrier. The second was that for the first time I was made aware of this trip I've set on. Chef Shimbo was talking about traditions that were hundreds of years old. Still today people slave over stoves to recreate a bit of history in the present. We take items out of the ground, find them in rivers, on mountains, practically everywhere in the world, and using age old methods and techniques we convert them into feasts. The true idea of being a chef is pretty amazing. I'm not talking about working at applebee's (lowercase) and opening plastic bags and reheating, but the simple idea of putting seeds in the ground to harvest fresh produce in months to come to plate on a table shortly thereafter is amazing to me.

With that being said, I'll leave you with this. You may not be able to see, I took the picture with my iPhone, but settling in across the street under the 31st bridge between 30th and 31st Avenues is a quite spritely fellow. Tall in nature with flowing black curly hair and a wired frame in a green speedo. His name? Russell Brand. His place? Filming Arthur down the street.