May is a great time for hatsu-gatsuo, as sashimi or sushi.

Hatsu-gatsuo, the “first catch” of bonitos in the late spring to early summer

is a key word indicating early summer according to haiku rules

and has been highly appreciated as a delicacy of early summer for centuries.

“ For the eyes, there are green leaves and for the ears, the cuckoo’s song.

In addition, for the tongue you have the first bonito as well.

” This is a well-known haiku poem written by a haiku poet in Edo period((1603-1867).

It describes how much delighted Edoites were with the freshest seasonal things of early summer including the first bonito.

Grated raw garlic and ginger go well with uncooked katsuo or bonitos.

It is a great pleasure to taste the season’s foods while feeling the seasons.

The katsuo is one of the most versatile fish in Japan and appreciated in many ways.

Dried and fermented it becomes katsuobushi,

one of the main ingredients in dashi stock and creates the basic and essential flavor of Japanese cooking.

Traditionally katsuobushi is used in blocks and shaved using a wooden grater box because of it increased hardness.

Nowadays prepackaged katsuo shavings are more preferred than driftwood-looking katsuobushi at most households.

And as it symbolizes a married couple, it has been used as a thank-you gift to people invited to the wedding reception.

Unlike maguro or bonito which is an endangered species, katsuo is very abundant near the sea in Japan.

So you can enjoy eating as much raw katsuo as you want without worrying its extinction.

五月は初鰹の刺身が楽しめるときです。

初鰹は晩春から初夏にかけて一番早くとれた走りの鰹で俳句では初夏の季語にもなり、

何世紀にわたって初夏の味となってきました。

｢目には青葉山ほととぎす初鰹｣これは江戸時代の俳人による句で、

江戸っ子が初鰹を始め初夏の初物を大層珍重したことを詠んでいます。

鰹の刺身には生のおろしにんにくと生姜がよく合います。季節を感じながらその季節の物を食べるのはとてもうれしいことです。

鰹は日本では用途が広く、いろいろな方法で賞味されています。

乾燥してから熟成させた鰹は鰹節と呼ばれ、

出し汁を作るのに必要な食材であり和食の基本的となるうま味を引き出します。

加工されてとても堅い鰹節を1本丸ごと使用し、専用の削り器で使う分を削り出すのが伝統的なやりかたです。

ですが最近は外見が流木に似ている鰹節よりはあらかじめ削り出された「削り節」の袋詰めほうが家庭でよく見かけられます。

鰹節は夫婦の象徴でもあり、結婚式の引き出物して用いられています。

絶滅危惧種であるマグロと異なり、鰹は日本近海付近に豊富に生息しているので、

絶滅を心配することなく鰹の刺身を思いっきり堪能することが出来ます。

http://www.nicjapanese.com