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I love Tatsuriki. I love Lebanese food. So, if two are put together, what would happen?

When I heard about a charity event hosted by Sakaya Kurihara on November 4th to pair Tatsuriki with Lebanese food catered by Lebanon Cafe, the first word that came to mind was “How?”. Then I thought of sesame, lemon, herbs, and chick peas and I said, “this might be interesting”. To make things more interesting, Tatsuriki Chairman Honda was going to be there, so that alone was a definite “yes” factor to be at the event.

Here I am on at the fundraiser with thirty some people in one of the toniest part of Tokyo, Moto Azabu, at the Kurihara event facility, once the home for Ginjyo 72. The event kicked off with comments from the chef from Lebanon Café, which is right opposite from Kurihara. This was followed by the comments from Charirman Honda from Tatsuriki. I love his passion about soil, rice, yeast. and sake making.

Event Host-Ms. Itsuko Kurihara, Tatsuriki Chariman-Mr. Honda: right at the beginning of the event

So, what we did we have?

Tatsuriki side: Total of 11 or more kinds of Tatsuriki

1. 純米大吟醸
龍力
一ツ橋
(junmai daiginjyo tatsuriki hitotsubashi)= Hitotsubashi
Named after the last (15th) Tokugawa Shogun “Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu”: Aged Sake with good balance.

2. 純米大吟醸龍力
米のささやき
上三草 (junmai daiginjyo tatsuriki komeno sasayaki kamimikusa)= Whispers of Rice, Kamimikusa

1.8l 21,000 yen, 720 ml 10,500 yen

please see my previous comments for Kamimikusa (2), Akitsu (3),and Yokowa yoneda (4). Surprisingly, I had the same opinion as before: Kamimikusa being best of all three.

3. 純米第吟醸龍力
米のささやき
秋津
(junmai daiginjyo tatsuriki komeno sasayaki akitsu)= Whispers of Rice, Akitsu

1.8l 31,500 yen, 720 ml 15,750 yen

4. 純米吟醸龍力
米のささやき
吉川米田 (junmai daiginjyo tatsuriki komeno sasayaki yokawayoneda)= Whispers of Rice, Yokawa yonedao

1.8l 21,000 yen, 720 ml 10,500 yen

OK. Pairing Tatsuriki with Lebanese food. I had falafel, baba ganoush, and tabouli with these very fine–or the finest of the fine sake. Although, I somewhat enjoyed the match, I had to reset my palate with pita bread and grapes so that I could fully enjoy sake. Strong citrus, sesame dominant food, or cumin flavor did not go well with the fine balance of these four fine sake, I have to admit. I love this kind of Lebanese food, but not with these varieties of Tatsuriki.

However, as we moved along to the more affordable category, with the range of 1,575 yen to 1,890 yen for 720 ml, muroka tokubetsu junmai=unfiltered junmai, the pairing with Lebanese food came to life. I fully enjoyed heavy okra tomato stew or pilaf with fried fish with any of these four muroka junmai sake. At this point, though, geeky side of me kicked in and I really wished I had four glasses in front of me to taste different rice processed in the same way, same year with same yeast. The four rice categories are: Yamadao, Yamadanishiki, Omachi and Shinriki. I think I liked Shinriki, but hard to tell.

Lebanese Food served at the event

Hummus, Baba ganouge, Falafel,Tabouli, R’AA’ B’Jibn, Manoushi, Fatouch, Fish Pilaf, and Stew.

I would not have paired Lebanese food on my own, but definitely this is a nice match which deserves special attention in the future. At the same time, I really admire Ms. Kurihara’s approach to take the initiative to try something totally new as a leader in the sake industory! They have planned the 2nd event to on December 2, matching Lebanese food with Tsukasabotan.

Finally, here’s a nice couple I met at the event, Mike and Naoko. Some more sake enthusiasts.

Tags: Azabu-Juban :: en :: 英語 :: Hyogo :: Kurihara :: nihonshu :: restaurant :: sake :: sake event :: Tokyo :: 日本酒

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