Funori was a serendipitous discovery on an afternoon spent roaming the coast with a very outdoorsy crew during our Vernal Equinox session.

As autumn gives way to winter, we tilt further and further away from the sun towards a season of stillness and shadows. Heartier fare made of turnip, radish, and potato make their way to the table.

I think time just might just be the most essential ingredient in good cooking. Because cooking with care takes time. And care shouldn’t be rushed.

Figs are the sirens of the fruit family, mysterious, alluring and irresistible. Fresh figs are succulent, and best when so ripe and soft you fear they’ll bruise from your gaze alone.

On nights like these, summer begs us to sip something sultry. With so many herbs to muddle and flowers to garnish with, summer cocktails are the most delightful medley of fresh flavors. ume

A long morning spent daydreaming while slicing daidai rinds for marmalade or plucking the stems one by one from ume fruits is, for me, pure mediative bliss.

Water shield, my latest edible fascination, is an aquatic herb gathered towards the end of May. It’s a common starter dish at Japanese restaurants but rarely eaten at home

Most things we forage require processing to render them delicious. But not these berries. While many make jams of them, I prefer to eat them one by one like fresh candy.

This day comes to Mirukashi once a March and marks our turn into spring. Young men with torches kindle the tall grasses that line the roads and fields. Smoke billows and black papery husks rain down

The first winter nori harvest offers us nama nori, fresh raw nori, a fleeting, seasonal flavor that was once a delicacy enjoyed only by the aqua farmers tending their nori nets. It is seaweed sashimi.

Last year I became fond of fukimiso glazed namafu, a supremenly elegant version of a very humble dish, dengaku. Namafu, a Kyoto delicacy made that serves as a textured canvas on which to paint bitter-sweet fukimso.

While much of nature’s bounty is fleeting, the daidai trees are somewhat forgiving. The name itself means across generations and if left unpicked its fruit does not fall easily.