8 December 2013

N is for NOODLES

Italian, Chinese and Japanese cuisines are possibly the most recognised for ways with noodles. What would Italian fare be without spaghetti and the myriad other derivatives of both dried and fresh pasta noodles? Chinese egg and rice noodles are one of life's pleasures too. (Suffice to say I am not going to write about 'instant' noodles, despite their universal popularity. Yuk!)

But for me it is the array of noodles in Japanese eating that is supreme. You haven't tried Japanese food until you have experienced really good ramen, and for many Japanese a bowl of warming noodles in a light tasty broth makes the perfect lunch. Whether it is rice, buckwheat, udon or egg noodles they are essential to everyday eating in Japan.

I once stayed at Ryokan Sakamoto on the Noto peninsular which juts out into the Japan sea, well north of Tokyo. It was one of those life changing experiences with sensational food and exquisite style. While we were there the first harvest of the season's buckwheat arrived and it was inspiring to see the reverence with which Sakamoto san treated his heavy sackful of tiny seeds. He was, and still is, a master of soba noodle making and I cannot ever hear or read the word soba without thinking of this extraordinarily gifted but humble man.

My lunch salad today, pictured above is a intriguing combination of salted watermelon, smoked mackerel, grilled peaches, crisp lettuce and of course, cold soba noodles. It was delicious.