日本三大秘境のまち

Speaking about the joys travel—there’s eating. In particular, local food that can only be found in that region, local gourmet, B-grade gourmet—these can be so enthralling that eating can even be a reason for taking a trip.

In Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture, too, there are not just one or two dishes that you should try. Taste iyasoba and dekomawashi—a local specialty, for which the city is also known as a production area; or try hirarayaki, that you eat on the riverbank of Yoshino River, and other delicacies.

The delight of food is the delight of the land! If the number of feature items unique to Miyoshi increases, the charm of Miyoshi will even more radiant. In light of this, a new project was initiated in 2020. It’s called the “We Create Together Project.”

What is the We Create Together Project?

As the name suggests, the goal is to “create” new specialties of Miyoshi, “together.” It is an initiative where participants establish a variety of food themes, and then go about making specialty items through holding workshops and making prototype dishes. Also, by socializing while sampling the food and creations, information exchange becomes lively, and it can be expected to be a place where more and more new ideas are generated.

This time, we take a look at scenes from the first workshop, where the project kicked off.

The theme of the first session was “Food and Drink of Miyoshi.” While Miyoshi is well known for producing alcoholic beverages, when it comes to pairing local drinks with food, there is a little uncertainty. So, with the aim of creating food and drink of Miyoshi, with pairings of local brews, the workshop got under way.

Those who participated were people involved in tourism and commerce, centering around people involved in the local food and beverage industry. Tetsuya Nishita of Sake to Kushiyaki home, Ryota Yamada of Coco x Cross café bar & hotel, Shogo Sonoda of Nishi-Awa Tourism Association Sora-no-sato, Michio Yokoyama of assobimotte, Ryoichiro Mamiya of Miyoshikiku Shuzo, and many others were present.

Through food-and-drink-related group work, plenty of ideas were bounced around, and then shared. With participants gaining inspiration from each other, possibilities for menu creation were born.

Also on the day, people involved in the food and beverage industry brought along sample dishes that they had prepared. At the meeting, local brews were also available, and the event turned into a social gathering for participants, as they taste-tested the dishes they had each brought along, and sampled them paired up with the beverages.

We will share some information about a few of the menu items sampled on the day.

Ratatouille made with wild game and local vegetables

Pinchos made with log-grown shiitake

Smoked hard tofu with honey from assobimotte

The brushed-up versions of some of these prototype dishes may eventually become Miyoshi specialties.

This We Create Together Project workshop will be held another two times, so we plan to share scenes of those events as well.

(Article: Tatsuya Ogake)