Essentially Japanese Cooking & Cuisine - Hideo Dekura : Niseko A new Style of Home Cooking

   Niseko is located on Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. It has a total area of approximately 83,451 square kilometers and accounts for about 22 percents of the total area of Japan but only about five percent of the population. Originally inhabited by native Ainu, Hokkaido's modern development began in 1869 with the establishment of the Colonization Commission.
   Recently Hokkaido has seen significant development and population growth with the capital, Sapporo now being the fifth largest city in Japan. Fisheries and agriculture have been the foundation of Hokkaido's growth.
   Hokkaido has a relatively cool climate compared to the rest of Japan. Winters can be very cold with large amounts of snow falling. This is a great place for skiers, snow boarders and other winter sports lovers to consider as a holiday destination. Niseko is one of the best ski spots in Hokkaido and is famous around the world for its ski resorts and powder snow. It is called the 'St. Moritz of Asia'. Recently the number of tourists from overseas coming here in search of powder snow has been increasing.
   Niseko is blessed with beautiful countryside and prosperous livestock and agricultural industries. Some Niseko women, who were later called Jyuugo-baa, (which means 15 grannies and middle-aged women), voluntarily got together and established the Niseko Process Foods Workshop, to actively promote the marketing of local products. They appealed to the community to appreciate the importance of developing local food and used their expertise to research and study local traditional food products and then to recreate them. They created a menu using mainly local products and ingredients, which they use in their daily lives with lots of love and care as if for the family; they are not genteel but they are authentic. When I shared a meal with them, it brought back fond memories of good home cooking; it was food just like grandmother used to make.
   Hokkaido and Niseko are not ancient like Kyoto, so the people there quite freely use modern ingredients such as lactic acid milk drink at their tables and are quite adventurous in their use of ingredients. Their dishes are not always strictly traditional but show respect to the ingredients, to nature and to people. This modernity has attracted newcomers from all over Japan who are attracted to the nature of Niseko.