I’ll never quit this habit of eating freshly prepared food in my office. No matter what the prepared food in shops don’t appeal me to much nor the cafeteria. I’ve been doing for ever and actually love it. I just get rid of some usual combination so try new ones once in a while. In summer I prefer cottage cheese rather than cream cheese, less fatty and heavy. And I replace the thick large slice of bread by slightly drier and smaller ones. Avocado and tomatoes are my always winning combination and I stick to it while tomatoes are still sweet and juicy! I prepare this in my office and I enjoy the super fresh and mix of texture very much. What is your best lunch option at work?
Long time no update… Sorry for that, I’ve spent a few days in Chicago followed by almost two weeks in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada for work and friends. And it was really a good time. Starting with a sunny weather and friends willing to make us discover where they live, we were very very lucky. This Mennonites area is growing plenty of delicious vegetables and there are farmers market nearby where you can find loads of fruits like you never see in Japan: blueberries and strawberries by the kilo, peaches and apricots by the box… No wonder why our friends cook their own jams! It’s so cheap! And home made jam is so delicious! Despite leaving in a hotel room for 2 weeks I manage to “cook” with just a knife and a spoon and eat fresh fruits and vegetables everyday. And finally cook when we spent the weekend north in French River in a lovely cottage of the Pine Cove, swimming, hiking and kayaking everyday for hours. Even with the limited ingredients we had it was so nice after so long to be in a kitchen and cook for everyone after a long outdoor day! In particular the kitchen of the cottage was super well furnished with high quality cooking ware so it was really enjoyable! Thanks A. for coming with me, thanks D. & C. for showing us around and spending so much time with us to make this Canadian experience really memorable and all the good work done too! Now it’s time to go home!
Not even two weeks after coming back from France I’m about to fly the other way around to the Midwest: first a few days in Chicago and then 2 weeks in Waterloo. A long hotel stay ahead, probably a lot of swimming but very little cooking unless I hack my friends and colleagues kitchen in Waterloo, which I might indeed!!! I love hacking friends kitchen and cook for them!!! So probably very few posts about cooking in the next two weeks, a bit about nice places we will visit and local food but probably not too many. Have a nice summer, a nice holidays for the lucky one!!!
The quick trip to France followed by a weekend in Ohara to recover from the jetlag, enjoy the fresher air in the country, see friends and celebrate Sea day with a swim in a warm and beautiful ocean, it’s time to go to the lab again, stay seated 12h in front of my computer and regret there is no outdoor pool nearby (why on earth would they shutdown the beautiful pool we had on campus just when I arrived????)… Hopefully there are the colorful one-plate full of Japanese tastes with fresh shiso, soya sauce, rice, grilled tuns and raw summer veggies! While everyone here and there will go on holiday, we will keep working and moving: next biz trip already planned and departure in 10 days!
As you may have noticed I am not in Tokyo now but in France after two days in Paris we went south and are now spending a few days in my hometown: Aix en Provence, at my parents’ place. Prunellia and I grew up in a beautiful environment. Prunellia probably didn’t enjoyed it as much as I did but we were very lucky. And now that time has passed I see myself even luckier because we can stills enjoy that. A large family house in the middle of pines and oaks, a pool in the middle of lush greens, a tennis court, friends nearby and always ready for a coffee, and nearby the moutain Sainte Victoire and a little (touristic and posh) city with plenty of history.
The museum hotel the Caumont in Aix city center
There are plenty of things to do in Aix en Provence, starting with walking around the city center, its gothic cathedral, the narrow streets of the old center, the farmers markets, the hotels particuliers or mansions with their typical architecture and the numerous foutains. Then there is Cezanne and all the painters, the atelier and the beautiful landscapes around that inspired them with amazing little hikes (not always possible in summer because of forest fire prevention). Recently a few new museums have opened one in the countryside, in a vineyard: chateau Lacoste, contemporary art outdoor, a must see place. The other one in one of the old mansions in the city and the renovation and exhibition are really nice: hotel de Caumont (don’t misunderstand with a hotel where to spend the night!!!).
That said, being in my hometown means a lot of local products for cooking and traditional recipes prepared both by my mother and I: soupe au pistou, bouillabaisse, fig tarts, flan (pudding), zucchini flowers… Many of the recipes have already been posted in the past because they are real classics and I cook them in Tokyo too, but some are just not possible. I will still share them with you in the next few days.
30m pool with view for lapsroom with viewbathroom with view too
What a nice experience to stay in a beautiful hotel in your own city! Last time we did that was for our wedding almost 10 years ago, when the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo was still brand new and we hold our casual party in the same building. Since then none of the new hotels in Tokyo really attracted me enough to want to stay in a hotel in Tokyo, the two things that attract me the most in urban hotels being the swimming pool and the view. During the summer I often thought about staying at the new Otani or the Okura for their outdoor summer pools, but in the end weather and work never managed to be right. Until the Aman opened last spring… The minute I saw a picture of the black pool and the view I wanted to go. At first it was almost impossible to have a room there without planning long ahead etc… Right after it opened and my parents were visiting we went for a drinkonly, but now that the press boom is all about Amanemu in Ise, the Tokyo hotel has more availability on last minute booking. So we finally did it and I’m very glad we did. The place is impressive, not just the lobby but the rooms too, and the pool of course that we amply used. It has nothing to do with wabisabi, it is Japanese in style but not in dimensions, it’s like a cathedral. I loved the material, in particular the lava stone for the bath room. Simple, efficient and elegant without being pompous. Everything is about the view and that’s exactly what you want. I loved the modularity of the room and bathroom with the giant sliding doors, the steps that creates a partition in this huge space while preserving the view from everywhere. And the sofa by the window to srutinize outside, the streets of Otemachi, the construction sites, Hibiya park… Like looking at a model.
It’s been 7 years or so I haven’t had steady lectures in the very first time slot, which makes me wake up really early. I’m not really an early morning person and because it’s only once a week it doesn’t really break my rythm, just makes it a long long day at work. So I’ve decided to take the opportunity to use 1h at noon to go and play tennis. We are spoiled because the university tennis courts are specially booked for faculties and staff every day during the lunch break, and there always quite a few people playing, so it’s rather fun. But after that and my breakfast eaten 2hours earlier than usual I really to fill on energy. Perfect then to use pasta leftovers with zucchini and bacon. Simple and energetic! Enough to fuel me for 7 more hours of work!!!
During the winter I didn’t give many talks and plenty of new results came in, so when I was invited two weeks ago to Kyushu Institute of Technology and today to Tokyo Institute of Technology to give talks I wanted to include plenty of our new material and shape new talks. When I work on these kind of things I really enjoy being home, I am much more productive, focused and I memorize my talk very easily. Unfortunately it is not always possible for me to squeeze in this time during week days, so I often work on my talks on weekends. Recently I am managing my time much better than I used to (may be it’s the low tide after the panic of business from last year) and I can prepare my talks more calmly and better. And this means having lunch at home which is also really nice. I can cook simple things that are just the perfect food before giving a talk: light and energetic. Today, I went for a simple arrangement of steamed zucchini and couscous with olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh mint from the terrace. Ready in 5min, but so delicious!
Indeed, I am still crazy busy at work with this grant application, but hopefully it should be all done today. In the meantime we still need to sustain ourselves and the Japanese one-plate is on the menu again with an unexpected variation. Indeed, I prepared the green beans with miso and the pickled onions, but we have some fresh simmered small bamboo shoot on the plate now, that I didn’t prepare!
There exist two types of bamboo shoots, the big one I’ve been cooking quite often because you can find them everywhere and the small one that are more let’s say “wild” and that one needs to pick in the forest. Picking bamboo shoot is a real fun sport, basically it’s hiking and them crawling in bamboo groves. We’ve had the chance to go bamboo shoots picking with our friends from Tsunan once and it was really awesome. Like wild mushrooms picking it takes some time to figure what to pick and to know the good spots. Unfortunately in Isumi we don’t know yet these spots and people keep them secret, like everywhere!! But one of the guy we met on the tennis court came to bring us some small bamboo shoot simmered with sesame oil. There is something here quite unique with Japanese, is that they love to offer us food they make and local products. I think it goes together with this tradition of food souvenir etc… I need to do some research about that!
Anyway that’s how we ended with a perfect Japanese one-plate, with only fresh and delicious local products.
