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How to judge –and win– a bluefin tuna competition
A logbook by Sensei Hiroshi Umi.. A gaggle of TV cameras and photographers mills around the main stage in Hall 8 of Salón Gourmets (IFEMA, Madrid), trying not to fall over one another before the event begins. Just a few moments ago an outs...
Tora: a tiger on the loose in the Salamanca district
A logbook by Sensei Hiroshi Umi. A talented, self-made sushiman, an investor who is an elite footballer, and a hugely elegant venue in the heart of Madrid’s Salamanca district. These are the calling cards of Tora (tiger in my mother t...
El Doncel: bluefin tuna 1,000 m above sea level
A logbook by Sensei Hiroshi Umi. He gives off the aura of days gone by, out of the ordinary, like a man of the Golden Age, veteran of a thousand battles, arising from a literary world. A rakishly piratical beard, professorial glasses, sharp...
Koshihikari: why this rice for this bluefin tuna
The staple of half of humanity, the central core of nutrition and the bedrock of so many store cupboards. More than 500 million tonnes are harvested each year around the world, with our Chinese neighbours the global leaders in terms of prod...
Sharaku: hidden island, supreme nigiri
A logbook by Sensei Hiroshi Umi. One of the most reassuring experiences for the nomadic, investigative, analytical, gluttonous and loquacious guild of culinary critics is for our taste buds to come across some unsuspected discovery. The few...
Hermanos Vinagre, or why bluefin tuna is a sublime tapa
I first set foot in Spain as a gastronomic correspondent back in 1989. And what my bosses got me to explore to begin with was what I then defined as holy ground: the bars of Madrid. Notebook in hand, my bewildered face betraying my stupefac...