Ómós Digest #180: A Miso Experiment
Written by Cúán Greene.
Our neighbourhood’s streets are lined with pink cotton candy. Only it’s cherry flavoured. Large, fluffy blossoms of the ornamental cherry tree, also known as cherry blossom or Sakura in Japan. Overly conscious of their short season, with every sighting I am propelled into an ongoing debate with myself about how and when I should preserve them. The sentiment feels all too familiar… I’ve just been through this turmoil with the magnolia tree. Luckily, I had managed to successfully pickle a few bags of petals before their inevitable decomposition. Similar to pickled ginger, both in their paper-like profile and fragrance, I think the sushi chef at my nearest takeaway may have gotten wind of my antics. There was no accompanying ginger to my poké order last week. Thanks to the magnolia, I did not miss it. The same can’t be said for the absence of wasabi.
I was sure my article this week would be an open letter denoting the culinary possibilities of cherry blossoms. Salting, pickling or maybe candying the flowers, leaves, or both. Perhaps something could be done with the green wood, too? An oil, maybe? But a trip inland, taking me away from the city, where the pink trees are more sporadic, and my obsession could dwindle to healthy levels, brought about an inspiring visit to an organic nut press that provided me with an application for cherry blossoms that could be presumed Japanese, but in reality is far from traditional.
