Rosanjin Scholar?

Jet_Jaguar · August 24, 2002, 3:01pm

On the TV show “Iron Chef”, one of the frequent judges is identified as a “Rosanjin Scholar”. What is that a study of?

Terminus_Est · August 24, 2002, 3:40pm

Rosanjin, of course. Sheesh.

Seriously, the person you are refering to is Hirano Masaaki. Read his bio at IronChef.com is for sale | www.domainnewsletter.com. Apparently, Rosanjin was a cook who also made his own ceramics:

Kitaoji Rosanjin (1883 - 1959) was one of two culinary genius who combined the traditional Japanese tea aesthetic with a refined modern sensibility and one of the first inventors of “fusion” cuisine. He established the Bishoku (Gourmet) Club open to only members and their guests and it was from this that Japanese Kaiseki cuisine was born. For Rosanjin dinning was a kind of “wordless communication” between guest and host. He paid meticulous attention to details, so much so that in Japan today, interestingly enough, Rosanjin is more famous for his pottery than his cuisine. Rosanjin believed his cuisine should be served on ceramics of high artistic quality but could not find anything that suited him so he started to make his own. These items are now priceless treasures that can only be found in museums here.

TheeGrumpy · August 24, 2002, 8:23pm

It’s so hard to tell on that show how much is genuine culinary history and how much is TV fabrication. But oh how I love it.

W.Panic_Snopes · August 25, 2002, 4:57am

Another thing mentioned on IRON CHEF a lot is konyaku. Does anybody know what this is? Even the Internet isn’t very helpful.

Sublight · August 25, 2002, 8:09am

Konnyaku is the devil’s phlegm (in my opinion). Well, maybe not that bad, but I’ve eaten more appetizing stuff.

It’s a gelatin made from a root called the Konnyaku root (very helpful, I know), also known as Devil’s tongue. It’s doesn’t have a lot of calories, is supposed to be very healthy, and is used in a lot of different ways. There are clear konnyaku noodles, jelly candies made with konnyaku and fruit flavoring, and solid chunks of the stuff as an ingredient in various boiled dishes, to name a few.

Here’s an Iron Chef site with a description of the konnyaku battle:
http://www.ironchef.com/98/98_e17.shtml