The full moon rises huge and golden over the horizon as I pick fresh basil from Mika's kitchen garden in the fading light. It is "Juugoya", the celebration of the mid-autumn full moon, and though the days are still warm there is a chill on the evening air.
Back in the kitchen, I use the basil to garnish tonights "Chirashizushi". Using the remaining strands of last years crop I cooked saffron rice, then blended it with vinegar and sugar to make it a fragrant sushi rice. Our saffron should be blooming in a week or two, and we usually harvest enough to last us a year. I spread the sushi rice out in a wide cylindrical bowl, one layer of a three tiered lidded set (Sandanju). I julienne Mika's last cucumber and spread it over the rice, then a layer of thinly sliced omelette, prawns, salmon, avocado and, last of all, the basil.
I make my art for these every day moments, because that is where we live, in the real world.
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