192 - Omakase: Reloaded 🍣➡️🍗
Hey there, !
Omakase - translation: “I’ll leave it up to you”
Generally, an omakase is a multi-course meal presented at a sushi restaurant, with the chef guiding and setting the menu based on their expertise and availability of ingredients, and doesn’t have to be limited to just raw fish and rice - grilling, simmering and frying can sometimes also be included.
The lightest dishes to start; pianissimo, a flute, a violin, some kingfish, a melody, a theme; mezzo-forte, introduce the woodwinds, the percussion, balance the flavours and the textures of tuna, of salmon; forte, the brass, the o-toro, the fatty flounder, the heavier, tastier dishes at the climax, and; mezzo-piano lightly end on a soft landing, a pillow, tamago sushi, a cloud.
Beautiful.
But then…why’s there only sushi omakase?
Sure, there are set menus and tasting menus at restaurants based on a cuisine, showcasing the highlights of those countries food and ingredients, but I’m thinking more about…the whole experience of an omakase.
When you go to these sushi restaurants to try their omakase, the expectation is that you’re getting the freshest fish available, combined with the greatest expertise on how to prepare that fish, with a balanced menu that showcases the accumulated techniques and skills of the sushi chef, culminating in perfect sushi bites of deliciousness.
So why isn’t this kind of thing available elsewhere!?
Where are the places that are getting the freshest meats available, combining that with years of expertise in how to deal with those meats, and showcase all the different ways that they can be prepared, cooked and served?
For example, think of chicken. There are so many ways to make chicken, and use the meat in a whole lot of wonderfully different ways:
Chicken soup, steamed chicken, boiled chicken, different types of chicken stock, grilled chicken, fried chicken, roast chicken, chicken rice, chicken skewers, drunken chicken, kung bao chicken, honey chicken, chicken schnitzel, chicken nuggets, chicken tenders, chicken cartilage, chicken feet…
The list literally goes on and on. I feel like Bubba talkin’ about shrimp…
But I don’t think there’s anywhere that’s like…the chicken mecca. The House of Poultry (specifically, chicken). The Shrine to Chickens!
I mean, I feel like there should be lots of different types of chickens that you could get that would be specifically better for grilling, or roasting, or frying, and surely there’s a chef out in the world somewhere who’s thinking about that?! I remember seeing a Japanese dude in an episode of Worth It who has spent literal years breeding a chicken to create the best egg in the world. And I kinda do want to try that too…
Back to the chicken, it’s even built into all of those options above - the way to start lighter, move to more interesting flavours and textures, build towards a climax of roast / fried chicken, and end on some sort of…chicken pudding or parfait(?) I’m not an expert but I mean…surely someone’s out there? Please? :D
Does anyone know of places like this? Where someone has been dedicating their skills and study to just…a particular thing? Not just sushi, or chicken, but perhaps a protein, or vegetable, or something? Please let me know!
An example to end on - a friend of mine (Jeff) told me about St John (and gifted me a cookbook written by the founder!), a restaurant in London founded by Fergus Henderson who seems to have been obsessive about pigs. He’s famous for using offal and the lesser cuts of pork (and other meats) in his restaurant, and trying to find the best way to serve them. I mean, that kind of dedication is something I would love to see for other foods as well!
Chat soon :)
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