A Japanese company is giving a luxe spin to Osechi- a set of foods eaten traditionally at New Year. The company is using exotic (and expensive!) ingredients to make Osechi a gourmet experience. Created by Chef Hiroshi Fujisawa of the Senshintei Oono wedding center, this Osechi is priced at 1.398 million yen ($11,800) and is to be eaten at home (as opposed to a restaurant).
The meal includes traditional Japanese foods such as “iseebi”, Japanese spiny lobster, “nodoguro”, a pinkish sea bass and “karasumi”, a dish prepared from salted and dried mullet roe. Chef Fujisawa prepares the Karasumi the same way today as it was prepared in the Edo Period (1603-1867) by Nagasaki magistrates when they presented the dish to the Tokugawa family who ruled the country at the time. The menu also includes Foie Gras and Italian white truffle alongside Caspian golden caviar or “almas caviar which was the most difficult to obtain item as it is produced only by a rare albino Beluga Sturgeon.
The meal is presented in a box made from the wood of the Empress tree or Royal Paulownia which also contains chopsticks made of green ebony and crystal wine glasses painted with Japanese Lacquer (urushi). “What we are offering (to our customers) is not only the (osechi) dishes but also the atmosphere, as if they are eating them at a restaurant,” said Senshintei Oono President Shinichi Oono. “My hope is that they will start New Year’s Day with a bigger smile on their faces.”
[Via – Asahi]
