"The Solitary Gourmet Season 10 " has started on TV Tokyo. The usual pattern is that Goro Inogashira, played by Yutaka Matsushige, always gets hungry at work and is busy looking for a restaurant nearby. I don't like eating out, especially not alone, and if I do eat, I usually drink wine and eat French food, so I'm a non-drinker and a big eater, the polar opposite of Goro Inogashira, who explores gourmet food alone. Still, I can't help but watch it because I admire the many delicacies that I never eat myself. The reason I think of Goro Inogashira as a "gourmet" and not just a "gourmet" is because he seriously pursues what he wants to eat. The search for a restaurant is one thing, but the climax for me is when he decides on a restaurant and ponders what to choose from the menu. Since most of the restaurants are new to him, he is conscious of the orders of the customers around him, including those who seem to be regulars, but he never goes along with them, and "for a moment, he becomes selfish and free." Then, you choose the dish that suits you best from the many options on the menu.
This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime serious battle.
In fact, the same TV Tokyo aired a gourmet program this year that focused on choosing dishes. It was called "Golden Teishoku" and aired 12 times a week from January to April. Shinobu Hasegawa of the comedy duo "Sisonne" and Kazuya Ohashi, leader of the popular Johnny's idol group "Naniwa Danshi", visit a restaurant and follow the transition from their first impression to their final decision based on information such as the producer's prior research and the recommended menu items of regulars. This is exactly what I wanted to see, and they make the ultimate choice after much deliberation. It's just a set meal, but it's still a set meal. The joy, anger, sorrow and happiness of choosing are displayed on the screen, which is a scene that can be said to be the origin of "gourmet food" in my opinion.
The philosopher Kant ( 1724-1804 ), whom I greatly admire, defined the human ability related to beauty as "judgment" in his critical philosophy, and wrote "Critique of Judgment." The recognition of "beauty" is not derived deductively from reason like mathematical truths, but is subjectively "judged" by an aesthetic eye refined through accumulated experience, and the important thing in this case is "imagination."
What I find very frustrating about French cuisine these days is that it has become commonplace, especially in high-end restaurants, to offer dishes such as "omakase courses" that give customers no choice, which I feel is nothing more than a "push" to the customer. What's more, when wine pairings are added, customers have no "freedom" to choose. This is far from being "gourmet." All the customers pay a lot of money to eat the same food and drink the same wine. This isn't a school lunch, or a wedding reception or some other banquet. If you look down on this scene, it would seem horrifying, and that is nothing other than a lack of imagination.
In fact, a la carte was the norm at Michelin-starred grand maisons until relatively recently, not to mention the quarter century ago when I used to go to Paris. The chef's choice course, in which a dozen or so dishes are served, first appeared at restaurants like "El Bulli" and then at "Astrance" in Paris. Until then, the standard was for each person to choose a dish from the hors d'oeuvres, main course, and dessert section of the menu in a three-course "en deux trois" format.
This is the "Golden Set Meal" - deciding which set meal to have (main course) and which side menu to have (hors d'oeuvre). And the process of reflecting on the day's choices after the meal while enjoying a sweet treat (dessert) at a nearby coffee shop also has the same structure. Once the restaurant has been decided, the only "freedom" that remains to the consumer is the "freedom" to choose the food. The world of "a la carte" is truly a place to celebrate the "freedom" of choice.
In the case of à la carte, the chef must prepare several dishes for each "en deux trois." Even if the main course is the same, it is natural that there will be differences in the quality of the dishes. They cannot neglect to make efforts to close the gap. In contrast, in the "omakase course," the chef only needs to prepare dishes that he is good at. This is nothing more than the ego of the chef, who ignores what the customer wants to eat. Moreover, he does not prepare dishes that he is not good at, so it is questionable whether he is really top-notch in terms of technique.
Henri Gault, one of the founders of Gault-Millau, published a book called "The 50 Best Restaurants in France" (Shibata Shoten) in 1986 and translated into Japanese in 1988. It is still one of the best methods of restaurant evaluation in the ala carte era. The restaurants are scored on a scale of 100 points, and a detailed scale is set for the ranking. It seems that the first place went to Robuchon, and the second place to Bocuse, who were at the time of the generational change from nouvelle cuisine. In addition, there is a "best dish of each restaurant." Bocuse's "Fernand Point-style sole filet" came in first. In the "dessert ranking," Robuchon came in first. In addition, in terms of "quality variation," Boyer's "Les Crayères" came in first for the smallest gap between the highest-scoring dish and the lowest-scoring dish of each restaurant. There is also a ranking of restaurants that offer good value for money. This also has a fairly complicated calculation formula, with Brazil's "Loup Mazuk" taking first place.
In this way, even though the menus at the Grand Maisons in the ala carte era were limited, customers would stare at the menu while drinking aperitifs and have lively discussions with their companions about what to eat. Even though I knew it was bad manners, I would take a bite of the food of my companions, regret that I should have chosen theirs, or feel superior because my own was more delicious, which was also fun. In contrast, with the Chef's Choice course, unless you declare in advance that you have allergies or disliked ingredients, no other dishes will be served. Moreover, if you declare honestly, a different dish will be served, but since they only make one dish even though the rest are the same dish, I found that there were many restaurants that would cut corners or serve something that was not tasty, so I stopped declaring. I was convinced that this was the disadvantage of not making the things I dislike. If there is something I can't eat, I make it my companion eat it or leave it.
Well, unlike in the past, I'm a poor university lecturer who lives a life that has nothing to do with grand maisons, so these days I mostly enjoy modest "gourmet" at bistros where the dishes are written on a blackboard. Perhaps the reason I sympathize with "The Solitary Gourmet" and "Golden Teishoku" is because "bistros" are the French version of "teishoku restaurants." Nowadays, bistros allow you to order a la carte, and there are more and more restaurants where you can enjoy the style of grand maisons, known as bistronomy = bistro gastro, in a bistro-like atmosphere, so they may be more suitable for the "gourmet" I'm looking for. The "joy" of choosing this and that dish from the menu while wondering what to eat and forming a series of events. And it's exactly the same with wine.
When you visit The Cloakroom and the elevator doors open, you look at the beautiful suits before you, wondering which one suits you best and which one is your favorite. Just like that, why can't you choose what you want to eat and drink? We need to take back our "brief freedom."
This month's recommended wine: "French Island Wine Corse"
"Appelachia Cuvee Tradition Rouge 2019 AOP Ajaccio Domaine A.P. Perachia" 3,500 yen (excluding tax)
For the last session of this year's season, we will introduce wines from France and Italy. First, we will introduce wines from the island of Corsica, located in the Mediterranean Sea. In French, it is called Corse and is known as the birthplace of Napoleon.
Since it is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, red wine is the main product. Grape varieties from southern France such as Grenache, Cinsault, and Carignan were brought and widely cultivated, but the first grape variety that comes to mind as unique to Corsica is the Niellucchio variety made in Patrimonio. However, this grape has been found to be the same variety as the Sangiovese variety used to make the Italian wine Chianti. It is believed to have been brought from mainland Italy by the Genoese, who ruled the island until the late 18th century.
And there is another variety, Sciacarello. This one is produced in the appellation that calls itself Ajaccio, the birthplace of Napoleon. According to Jancis Robinson, it must have been transplanted by the Romans, but the variety has not yet been identified. He writes that it produces "red wines that are not necessarily dark in color, but have a deep flavor."
The wine we are introducing this time is made from 100 % Sciacarello grapes and is produced by Domaine à Pelachia in the village of Peri, about a ten-minute drive from Ajaccio. The current owner, Laurent Costa, took over the domaine in 2008. Originally, no pesticides were used in the cultivation of the vines, and the domaine has been certified Ecocert. The wines they sell are primarily for local consumption, and are fruity and easy to drink cuvées made mainly from Sciacarello grapes. However, as this is not suitable for export, they also produce a small amount of cuvées with a higher alcohol content that can withstand transportation. Currently, it is only exported to Japan, and is not sold in mainland France.
There are two types of red wine, but I would like to introduce the Tradition, which is aged in concrete tanks without barrels. Costa says he strives to make bright wines. The winemaking process makes the most of the characteristics of the Sciacarello grape variety, so I think the charm of this grape variety is conveyed directly. This is a rare wine, so please take this opportunity to try it.
For inquiries about the wines introduced, please contact AVICO Co., Ltd.
Biography
Osamu Seki Born in Tokyo in 1961. Currently a part-time lecturer at Meiji University and other institutions.
He specializes in contemporary French thought and cultural theory, and is a director of the Reefer Wine Association.
His books include "An Introduction to Beautiful Men" (Natsume Shobo) and "My Neighbor is Arashi-kun" (Cyzo), and his translations include "How Should We Read Foucault?" by Oksara (Shinsensha) and "Mr. Pydrow, What Use Is a Gastronomic Critic?" by Pydrowski (Shinsensha).
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