Nuka-chan

[cheeni]

My web discovery of the day is Nukamiso. Many ancient cultures cherish pickled food, but it takes the Japanese to elevate it to the anthropomorphic nuka-chan.

Imagine a fermentation vat that has been "alive" for 50, maybe a 100 years. That's probably the oldest member of any family. As Joi Ito's excellent layman's guide to Nukamiso exposes, it is a demanding pursuit that requires care and dedication, yet it leaves room for sufficient innovation, so much so it's a chemistry experiment in the kitchen over a few decades. Each Nukamiso is supposed to carry the mark of the family that cares for it, supporting the vat with new nuka material.

Yes, it is possible to over complicate and elevate the preparation of food to ridiculous standards, but it's I guess, also the sign of a gourmand.

Comments

[zeeshanmn.livejournal.com]

Back home, there is a similar fermenting process that is used to age betel nuts. In Assam, betel nut is eaten first raw and then aged. The dried variety, supari, is not very common. Betel nuts are aged in sacks buried under the earth. The flavor of aged betel nut varies from family to family.

The caring process used for nukamiso is very similar to that used in betel nut aging.