Specialty Food Magazine

J apan has a rich history of artisanal culinary craftsmanship and time-honored practices in cultivating, harvesting, and producing a wide variety of high-quality food products. It has gained a global reputation for excellence in seafood, rice, beef, spices, sake, whisky, tea, and beverages, among other food products and ingredients. In addition, adventurous foodies around the world have discovered Japan's dynamic packaged snack-food industry, often through viral social media posts that generate excitement around these items. Attendees at the Specialty Food Association's 2024 Winter Fancy Food Show will have the opportunity to discover these products and more, as Japan is the Partner Country for this event. "Japan has various distinct flavors and combinations—both sweet and savory—not familiar to many in the United States, which help to provide novel and exciting tasting experiences for the palate," a spokesperson for JETRO, the Japan External Trade Organization, told Specialty Food. Hundreds of festivals and celebrations throughout Japan focus on specific cuisines or foods that are woven into the Japanese way of life, the JETRO spokesperson says. In fact, Japan's longstanding food traditions, rituals, and techniques, often passed down through generations of farmers and producers, dovetail with consumers' increasing demand for authenticity and craftsmanship in the foods they buy. Japan's reputation for high-quality foods has also captured the interest of chefs around the world, who often seek out the unique ingredients that only Japan can provide. "Traditional ingredients from Japan continue to be favored and explored by Western chefs, who are intrigued and enjoy learning about entirely new flavors such as dashi," the JETRO spokesperson says. "The land and natural environment from the mountains to the sea that Japan provides is home to many natural resources, such as rice and fish. Japan's Ocean Bounty Japan is an archipelago with more than 21,938 miles of coastline, offering access to what is considered some of the highest-quality seafood in the world. In fact, seafood is both a significant component of the Japanese diet and also one of the nation's largest export products. Japan's 2022 exports of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products and foods rose 14.3 percent in 2022, to 1.41 trillion yen (about $9.6 billion U.S.), according to Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. That included about $2.6 billion in seafood products, led by hotate (scallops), which are harvested in and around Hokkaido, Miyagi, and the Mutsu Bay of the Aomori prefecture. Scallops are a versatile culinary ingredient that can be eaten cooked or raw, and are known for their nutritional content and flavor profile. They are high in protein and low in fat, and also provide a good source of minerals such as iron and zinc, as well as vitamins B1 and B2. Scallops also contain taurine, a type of amino acid that is also found in nutritional drinks. They get their umami flavor and sweetness from their combination of amino acids, including glutamic acid and glycine. Japan's Food Traditions Yield Bounty of Top-Tier Products BY MARK HAMSTRA WINTER 2024 37 SPONSORED ARTICLE

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