The Kamogawa Food Detectives Quotes

“We get used to things too easily. You think something's tasty the first time you eat it, but then you start taking it for granted. Never forget your first impressions.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, Los misterios de la taberna Kamogawa

“Ah, Setchubai. "Plum Blossoms in the Snow." Perfect, and not just because of the name. It's a little sweet, but it'll go very well with the hotpot.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“The idea of happiness pitching up in my life like that all of a sudden it terrified me”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“I reckon we always meet the people we're supposed to meet, which is why you ended up walking through that door.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“Stewed arame and deep-fried tofu. Okra croquettes. Kikuna leaves dressed with sesame and miso. Kurama-style sardine. Hirosu tofu ball in broth. Pork belly simmered in Kyobancha tea. Fresh tofu curd with sour plum paste. Oh, and Kioshi's rice-bran-pickled cucumbers. Nothing too extravagant. If anything, the highlights are probably the firmly cooked Goshu rice and the miso soup with ebi-imo taro. Anyway, enjoy the meal. Oh, and make sure you put a good sprinkle of sansho pepper on the soup--- it'll warm you right up.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“In the bottom right is the grilled fish of the day--- in this case, teriyaki yellowtail. Top left is a selection of sashimi and pickled dishes.: Akashi sea bream, Kishu tuna, and flash-grilled Karatsu abalone. Seared Miyajima conger eel, served with pickled cucumber and myoga ginger. And in the bottom left is the matsutake rice--- the mushrooms are from Shinshu, and wonderfully fragrant. I'll bring some soup over shortly. In the meantime, enjoy!'
Nagare bowed and turned back to the kitchen.
'Let's tuck in,' said Tae, joining her hands together in appreciation before reaching for her chopsticks.
'It's delicious,' said Nobuko, who had already reached into the bento and sampled the sea bream.
'The sashimi looks wonderful, but these appetizers are simply exquisite. Let's see... rolled barracuda sushi, dash-maki omelette, and those look like quail tsukume balls. And this simmered octopus--- it just melts on your tongue!”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“There's also dessert--- sorry, I mean the mizugashi course. So please take your time,' said Koishi, shrugging her shoulders.
'That's right, Koishi. There's no such thing as "dessert" in Japanese cuisine. The fruit served at the end of the meal is called mizugashi. We're not in France, after all!' said Tae, her nostrils flaring.
'Really, Tae, you never change, do you? Always fussing over the strangest things... I'm not sure it really matters,' said Nobuko, setting down her bowl.
'No, it does matter. If you mess around with language like that, it's culture that suffers. Traditional Japanese sweet dishes are in decline precisely because people insist on calling them English words like "dessert"!”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“It's Swatow lace, I believe-- beautiful, isn't it? The design is titled "The Disc of the Moon"-- apparently it was inspired by the poem "Midnight Song" by the Tang-era poet Li Bai. I looked it up, and it turns out it's about longing for someone who's a great distance away.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“As Hideji's gaze skipped between the various dishes, Nagare went on:
'Stewed arame and deep-fried tofu. Okara croquettes. Kikuna leaves dressed with sesame and miso. Kurama-style sardine. Hirosu tofu ball in broth. Pork belly simmered in Kyobancha tea. Fresh tofu curd with sour plum paste. Oh, and Kioshi's rice-bran-pickled cucumbers. Nothing too extravagant. If anything, the highlights are probably the firmly cooked Goshu rice and the miso soup with ebi-imo taro. Anyway, enjoy the meal. Oh, and make sure you put a good sprinkle of sansho pepper on the soup--- it'll warm you right up.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“Miyajima oysters, simmered Kurama-style, miso-glazed baked butterburs with millet cake, bracken and bamboo shoot stew, chargrilled moroko, breast of Kyoto-reared chicken with a wasabi dressing, and vinegared Wakasa mackerel wrapped in pickled Shogoin turnip. In the bottom right you have a hamaguri clam broth thickened with kudzu starch. Tonight's customer asked me to create something that evoked both the lingering winter and the onset of spring, which led to the dishes you see here.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“Starting from the top left: thinly sliced Akashi sea bream sashimi, with a prickly ash bud and miso dressing-- to be enjoyed with the ponzu dipping sauce. Miso-glazed Kamo aubergine. Maizuru cockles sandwiched between slices of myoga ginger. Gizzard shad marinated in sweet vinegar, served in a miniature sushi roll. Fried matsutake, conger eel grilled two ways, Manganji sweet pepper tempura, abalone pickled in Kyoto-style sweet white miso and then grilled. Fish paste noodles, Kurama-style local chicken, smoked mackerel with a pine nut stuffing. Fresh soy milk curd and vegetables pickled with red perilla.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“Seeing as it's cherry season, I've gone for an imitation of a lunchbox from a blossom-viewing picnic. On top of that folded kaishi paper is the wild vegetable tempura. Ostrich fern, mugwort, devil's walking stick, koshiabura and smilax. There's some matcha salt on the side, or you can try it with the regular dipping sauce. The sashimi is cherry bass and halfbeak. Try it with the ponzu. For the grilled fish dish, I've gone with masu salmon in a miso marinade, together with some simmered young bamboo. Firefly squid and wakame seaweed dressed with vinegared miso, overnight Omi beef, and deep-fried chicken wing-tips. In that wooden bowl is an Asari clam and bamboo shoot broth.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“Gençken insan koşulsuz bir biçimde lezzet denen şeye teslim ediyor kendisini ama benim gibi yaşlandığında anılar dediğimiz baharat daha çekici geliyor.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“If you mess around with language like that, it’s culture that suffers.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“Things can taste very different depending on how you’re feeling.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“The idea of happiness pitching up in my life like that all of a sudden – it terrified me.”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives