27 Sep The curry and the man
Behind every great curry is a great man, don’t you think? One of the most loved dishes especially during winter season is the vegan curry we serve. But how did the curry end up in Roots cafe?
To keep the long story short, the curry is made by a chef called YoChan, Yousuke Suzuki. He used to run a restaurant at the top of the mountain during summertime near Omachi. And the people from Roots and Hakuba used to go to his place. Over the years YoChan and the owner of Roots cafe, Dave became friends, maybe due to that awesome curry. Dave wanted to share his love of curry to his customers too and so it ended up in Roots Cafe.
But who is YoChan and how did the whole curry came to be? We sat down with YoChan and asked about it.
Yousuke Suzuki was born in Kyoto, Japan. He now lives on a farm in Miasa, Nagano with his wife and 3 kids. He traveled to India after his studies and fell in love with the rich culture and the food. He learned how to cook with spices and use age old techniques to make curry.
After returning to Japan, 20 years ago, he ran a curry house on the top of Mt. Takagari. Today, he still uses the same recipe and age old cooking techniques to make his curry.
Q: How many different kinds of spices do you use to make curry?
A: I use 5 different whole spices and 9 different powdered spices.
Q: Do you use butter, ghee or oil?
A: Just vegetable oil, there are no animal products in my curry.
Q: What makes your curry so tasty and uniquely different from Japanese curry?
A: Well I fry my onions for about 10 hours over an open fire.
I also make my curry paste on the fire and that takes about 4 hours.
Q: Do you have a philosophy about food that you would like to share with us?
A: Good curry can’t be rushed. That is what I learned most in India.
Preparing good food is a special harmony time on the earth.
I don’t like the use of chemicals to grow food.
I like the organic cycle of food.
I think ‘Simple is Best’.
I hope you will get good energy from my curry.
Thank you Yousuke, it was a pleasure!
We do hope you enjoy our curry as much as we do!
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