Driving along the St. Moritz Bridge the other day it made me wonder what Kutchan and the greater Niseko area had in common with St. Moritz other than Kutchan being a sister city to the town in the Eastern Alps of Europe. After an hour on the net I really couldn’t find much except for a reference on the Niseko Tourism site saying that the Niseko area was hailed as the “St. Moritz of the Orient” in the early and mid 1900′s. So I decided to looked at some pictures on Google and Flickr to conjure up an image and then went out and took a few photos. Below you can see a few I took and also some links to Wikipedia so as you can make you own mind up.
st. moritz bridge with niseko annupuri under clouds
Sasson Club in Niseko with Moiwa mountain behind the cherry blossoms
Wiki for Kutchan
Wiki for St. Moritz
What do you think?
These photos were taken on 26 May 2010, I think they speak a thousand words each. In summary they say “anytime of the year is a great time to be here. ”
Spring Mountain Flavour Recipes
In spring when the snow has melted one thing that many people do is get out in the mountains and gather the regrowth of plants. A few that are fairly easy to find in Niseko are takenoco [bamboo shoots] udo, fuki, and gyoja ninniku[Ainu garlic]. Below are a few pictures of the some zan sai as found in the mountains or just after they have been picked. Please note that of the time of this being written mountain vegetable are still being picked in the higher parts of the Niseko Mountain chain.
Fuki in the Wild
Udo in the mountain
Ainu Garlic and Udo ready to be prepped
The real trick to san sai is the preparation and or cooking so head across to our small section of spring mountain flavour recipes that are unique to Japan, simple but simply delicious. Or in the mean time grab some takenoco and mix up some miso paste and mayonnaise to make a miso-mayo dip and eat while drinking beer in the comfortable spring climes. Got some recipes and want to contribute? add a comment and we can get back to you.
Miso Mayo and unprepped and lightly boiled Takenoko
