[h1-title h1=Highly Acclaimed Legendary Game Cuisine Hidden in the Mountains]
What is Game Cuisine?
Have you ever heard of or tasted game cuisine?
It is part of French cuisine. The Game Cuisine Association defines it as: “Consuming natural wild birds and animals hunted by hunters is called game cuisine.” In Europe, game cuisine has long been a traditional dietary culture of the nobility and is also praised as high-end cuisine in the French culinary world.
“Diverse flavors” is the most interesting aspect of game cuisine. Bears, deer, and birds obtained through hunting are affected not only by their living environment and the types of food they consume, but also by the handling and cooking methods at the time of capture, which influence the flavor of the dishes.
Wild animals can live in mountain forests with abundant food sources, and after hunters capture them, they perform appropriate processing to maintain the freshness of the meat. Only when these conditions are met can they become game ingredients for Michelin three-star chefs. Due to their scarcity and various limiting conditions, even food experts skilled at finding famous restaurants find it quite difficult to locate delicious game cuisine restaurants.
Apart from a few Michelin three-star game restaurants in Tokyo where renowned chefs carefully select ingredients and cook them into delicacies, there are also some inns in less populated mountain areas that offer game cuisine. The hot spring inn we introduce this time allows you to enjoy the tranquility of nature while tasting rare and precious cuisine - game dishes.
About Yamado
With only 12 rooms in the entire facility, it is one of the few luxury inns in Japan’s Tohoku region. Its excellent service quality has also won many awards domestically in Japan.
Recently, due to the continuous increase in direct flights to Tohoku, traveling to the Tohoku region has become much easier compared to three or four years ago. Yamado is an inn that stands at the corner of a small hot spring town, about an hour’s drive from the airport through mountains and forests.
Mountain Experts Known as Yamado
Yamado is not only a Japanese inn, but all staff members are also mountain experts and mountain guides. The staff who know this land best carefully select what they consider the finest local mountain produce and game to offer to guests.
The vegetables and fruits that look scarred and varied in size are the best proof of being grown without pesticides.
Every dish shows the skill and care in making full use of nature’s gifts without wasting ingredients.
Another representative dish of Yamado - the vegetable platter
Paired with a special sauce made from fresh rock fish, it has excellent color and taste with a lingering aroma. It’s also recommended to enjoy it without sauce, directly tasting the fresh sweetness of the vegetables.
Can You Eat Game Cuisine Just by Making a Reservation?
Japan has had hunters who made a living from hunting since ancient times. They are called “Matagi” in Japanese, and the Tohoku region from Iwate Prefecture to Aomori Prefecture is their place of origin. “Matagi” are true mountain masters. Yamado obtains precious mountain game from these mountain masters and prepares them into delicious dishes to satisfy the appetites of staying guests.
However, these game ingredients are not readily available. Unlike regular kaiseki cuisine, Yamado must first obtain ingredients from hunters before they can begin the step-by-step preparation process, which is time-consuming, so game cuisine cannot be enjoyed immediately upon reservation.
Winter is the best time of the year to taste game cuisine. If you want to try this legendary delicacy, please make sure to book several weeks in advance.
Preparing Game Ingredients!
This is bear paw braised in red wine. Bear paw can be called a delicacy among delicacies, with a saying describing it: “Only hunters can eat it,” showing its preciousness.
Wild bears living in food-abundant mountain forests, after being hunted, must not only be properly processed by hunters to maintain the meat in optimal condition, but also require first-class chefs to prepare them to become an exquisite dish.
Visiting the kitchen in person to see how the chef prepares bear paw. The bear paw has hair attached like hard brushes, and when touched, the paw itself is as hard as a solid block of muscle.
Cooking is used to soften the hard muscle fibers of the bear paw and remove the gamey smell. During cooking, you can smell the distinctive odor of wild animals. The chef told us: “This smell allows you to feel the vitality of wild animals and is the essence of this dish’s deliciousness.”
Originally thinking that after softening the muscle fibers, the skin could be peeled off directly for further preparation, unexpectedly the chef drained the bear paw and began concentrating on plucking each hair from the bear paw one by one.
The processed bear paw looks very clean. It takes two days to process the bear paw to this state. Not leaving any hair behind to avoid affecting the texture of the entire dish is the chef’s persistence as a culinary craftsman.
Using an entire bottle of premium wine made from Merlot grapes produced in Iwate Prefecture for preparation, the aroma is rich and never tiresome.
To eat this bear paw dish actually takes a month’s time, making it a rare delicacy that ordinary restaurants cannot provide. This is also why this dish is expensive at Michelin restaurants.
Yamado also offers exquisite beverages. From locally produced Tohoku wines to craft beers, with diverse tastes and rich varieties.
For guests who don’t drink alcohol, they can also choose 100% fresh juice freshly squeezed by the inn.
Yamado’s Head Chef
Head Chef Shigeru Shibata, who was interviewed this time, is from Akita and worked at the Nikko Hotel in Paris, France for eight years. After returning to his hometown, he worked as a chef at hotels in Omagari and Yokote City, dedicating himself to exploring and using local ingredients for delicious cuisine.
“Creating Yamado’s unique characteristics is my greatest sense of mission,” Chef Shibata says firmly.
In urban areas, as long as you’re willing to spend money, even the rarest delicious cuisine is within reach, but that’s all there is to it. At Yamado, they not only focus on bringing out the original flavors of fresh local ingredients; while guests taste delicious cuisine, Yamado also explains the cultivation and development of various ingredients, allowing guests to experience the deep and interesting aspects of cuisine together.
Allowing guests who have traveled far to enjoy the most delicious cuisine and the most thoughtful service is Yamado’s consistent philosophy and commitment.
Conclusion
Yamado’s thoughtful service makes guests feel honored and warm. Winter is the best season to taste game cuisine. You can enjoy extraordinary tranquility in Yamado’s beautiful snowy scenery while tasting delicious cuisine.
Yamado also has staff from Taiwan, so you don’t need to worry about language barriers. Please come to Japan’s Tohoku region for a wonderful vacation!
Exclusive Travel Services for You
Find accommodation booking procedures troublesome? Want to find local delicious restaurants or entertainment venues but don’t know where to start? Let the service staff of “Tour Japan Guide” serve you. Taiwanese staff living in Japan provide services that best meet your needs, making your Japan trip easier!
[info store=Yamado add=52-72-10 Yugawa, Nishiwaga-cho, Waga-gun, Iwate Prefecture mail=info@yamado.co.jp url=https://goo.gl/maps/ETaQQ2GasA9UJrq59\]