One of the highlights of Rye Bay Scallop Week was a live cooking demonstration by Masterchef winning chef Tim Anderson. The food writer and expert on Japanese cuisine returned to Rye to talk about his book on cookery in the Japanese region of Hokkaido on Friday, February 28 in the community centre.
Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, boasts breathtaking scenery including vast national parks, mountains, hot springs, and flower fields. The island is famous for fresh seafood including crabs, scallops, sea urchins and salmon roe. It also produces high-quality dairy products, such as Hokkaido milk, cheese, and soft-serve ice cream.
Hokkaido is the birthplace of Sapporo Beer, one of Japan’s most famous beer brands, and has the Sapporo Beer Museum. But it is the scallops that first drew Tim Anderson to love this area and to showcase its seafood cuisine. Hokkaido scallops are prized for their natural sweetness and umami, whether eaten raw as sashimi, grilled, or dried.
The main scallop farming regions include Saroma Lake, Mutsu Bay, and the coastal waters around Kushiro and Nemuro. Saroma Lake, in particular, is famous for its high-quality scallops, thanks to its mix of sea water and fresh water which enhances flavour and leads to a rich and sweet texture.
Tim engaged his audience from the moment he started to speak to the moment that they tasted the scallops he had barbequed on the grill. He cooked the scallops in their shells and as people ate them you could hear a swell of appreciative murmurs, and nothing else, in the packed community centre.
The talk had been arranged by David Angell as part of the Rye Bay Scallop Week under the umbrella of the Rye Arts Festival. David summed up the event: “We are so lucky to have in Tim Anderson, a friend of Rye Arts Festival and scallop week. His knowledge of Japanese cuisine and food in general, is incredible – to see him do a live demo at the same time as giving an in-depth talk on Hokkaido, as well as a Q&A was a treat.
“Japan has an incredible reputation for its whisky, and that reputation is growing constantly. I thought it would be fun to pair a Hokkaido whisky with Tim’s Hokkaido style scallops, think it worked!”
David had organised a few surprises for the event including the aforementioned tasting of Japanese whisky and a sprinkling of sea shanties. Martin Bruce, aka The Rye Harbour Shantyman, sang Whisky Johnny first to warm the audience up and then followed that with a Japanese shanty called Soran Bushi. The crowd loved it, joining in the chorus shouts with gusto. After the talk Tim met and chatted with people and signed his latest cookery book Hokkaido: there was a warm, appreciative buzz in the room.
This was another great success for the scallop week and Rye Arts Festival – a winning combination. Olly Campion you should be proud of yourself.
Image Credits: Kt Bruce , Kt bruce .