brushstroke presents our early fall kaiseki menu 

September 9th called “Choyo-no-Sekku” (Festival of Double Biggest Odd Number = 9/9), originated in the Edo era (1603-1868), and is the biggest of 5 seasonal festivals in Japan.

The symbol flower of the festival is a chrysanthemum, the Autumn beauty. This edible chrysanthemum is also valued as a medicinal flower with life-prolonging effects. Not only is it rich in vitamins, it increases your intracellular glutathione, enhancing detoxication metabolism and antioxidant action in your body.

As you may know, camomile also belongs to the chrysanthemum family. Edible chrysanthemum has similar stomachic, anti-inflammatory and tranquilizing effects to camomile.

 

– Chef Isao Yamada

This month, Brushstroke will serve various style of chrysanthemum dishes as well as other Late Summer ingredients:

Matsutake Mushroom: the most precious mushroom in Japanese cuisine, with a unique fragrance and individual texture. Brushstroke uses an Oregon matsutake mushroom that has as great a flavor as its Japanese counterpart.

Tsuru-Murasaki (Malabar spinach): This unique vegetable has a sticky texture and beautiful purple colored stalks (‘murasaki’ in Japanese). Tsuru-Murasaki is similar to spinach but is more nutritious, with higher vitamin A, C, calcium and iron content; it lowers blood glucose levels, too.

Black Cod (Sablefish): This buttery fish, everybody’s favorite, comes back in season in September. Brushstroke uses fresh (never-been-frozen) black cod from Alaska served in various creative presentations. How about in grilled sushi style this time?

To round out our September seasonal ingredients, we also use much sweeter and silkier Japanese eggplant and Kabocha-pumpkin, along with non-dairy, patented, special Soy Cream from Japan.