I love New England because it has four seasons like Japan. North Granby’s climate and environment is just like the mountain side of Japan and because of that the same kinds of plants (native or transplants) do well here.
In autumn, I am a little bit busier than usual because it's time to start preserving food harvested right from our yard. I love to cook and serve them according to Japanese tradition - I believe this is a good way to share our authentic culture.
The previous owner of our house planted a nice big patch of raspberries (ki-ichigo). We also have wild black raspberries! In July, the picking process is a bit competitive with our feathered friends, and if we aren't paying attention we'll end up losing. I like to make jam and a sauce for our dessert.
About the same time, our green and red shiso (Perilla) plants are getting large enough to start picking the leaves. While these are not native to our area, we've actually seen them in a book on foraging! Ours keep coming back every year from seed without any additional effort.
With green shiso, I make “Shiso Miso”, by combining miso, green shiso and sesame. I use this condiment on top of broiled fish cake, as well as baked salmon. It is so delicious!
Once the shiso plants are done flowering, I collect the seed pods and pickle them in plum vinegar. They are a nice condiment, mixed into rice, or added into salads.
As for red shiso, I usually make a syrup by simmering the leaves in sugar water. The color and fragrance are not like anything else! It's what gives umeboshi (pickled plums) their red color, by the way, and is also found in a popular topping for rice called "yukari" - the version we serve is hand made by Yumi's aunt in Japan.
Finally, The syrup goes great in beer or sake.
From late September, we can smell the sweet scent of wild grapes when we walk around our yard. I enjoy checking the level of maturity day by day as well. Our harvest last year was bigger than usual and the fruits were bigger and sweeter. I was very happy about it!
Since Akita prefecture (located in the northern part of Japan) has local dishes with wild grapes, I usually follow their recipes and make a syrup which can be sweetened or used to make pickles. In this example, the daikon radish’s color is becoming a beautiful deep purple, which adds to the enjoyment.
