Seasonal Tastes

Now we are pretty deep into autumn, and that means some opportunities to try some new foods.

Of course we have been looking forward to oyster season, and last Sunday we took a one hour road trip to the coast to buy some. We ended up with 3 kilograms of oysters in the shell. The season is early so the oysters were a little smaller than usual, but the guy selling the oysters said that they’ll just get bigger from here on out.

For fun we’ve been trying different kinds of apples lately. I haven’t really paid much attention to the varieties of apples that I eat to be honest – red or green was as detailed as I ever really got. But I guess part of paying more attention to the food we cook and eat has been learning about different varieties.

In Japan, there are quite a few kinds of apples available, and we’ve discovered two kinds that we really like – Shinano, and Ourin. The Shinano apples we have had are a golden red color, large and perfectly formed with a nice balance of sweet and acidic. The texture is also crisp but not too crunchy, and I’ve never liked softer apples. In contrast the Ourin is a golden green color, with a crisp texture and a rich appley perfume that calls to mind apple pies and strudels. These apples aren’t too expensive, about 100 yen per apple, but they pack a lot of flavor for the money. Yum!


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