In Tokyo, cherry trees also flower on the plate

2020-03-28T07:16:09.744Z

REPORTAGE - To counter the spread of the coronavirus, the Japanese authorities advise against gathering under cherry blossoms. But the blooming of sakura is not limited to parks and gardens, it can also be enjoyed at the table.

Watch the first flowers bloom on the still virgin branches, the leaves grow one by one and the powdery petals fly away, blown away by the wind. Despite the crisis, Rena Sasaki does not sulk his pleasure at the poetic spectacle of Tokyo cherry trees, which has just started. This year, however, the lawyer will not be celebrating at the foot of the gnarled trunks, as tradition dictates in Japan. "Usually, we meet with friends for a picnic, but it would be irresponsible to meet at this time," she said.

To counter the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, authorities have advised against attending flowering in parks as thousands of Japanese do each year. It will therefore be enough to make hanami - "contemplate the flowers" in Japanese - during walks in the neighborhood, away from the crowds that have been crowding for a few days in the most beautiful parks in the city, despite the recommendations of the government. The hanami has a taste of forbidden this year…

Read also: In Japan, cherry trees begin their flowering without tourists

Luckily, there are the pleasures of the table that brighten up the period. " We console ourselves with the seasonal specialties that we share with the family," says Rena. Because in Japan, enjoying cherry trees is not only a visual delight: it is also a taste. At the first buds, the food shops flood the market with sweet cherry blossom: cookies, chocolates, puddings and other flavored drinks are enthroned on the stalls. “ They are sold during flowering time, we love them because we can only take advantage of them for a very short period! Exclaims Yuiko Nakasone, pastry chef at Cocofulu coffee, who accompanies her spring cakes with sakura cream and decorates them with crystallized flower petals.

An ancestral ritual

Haruranman , spring in bloom. The poetic names of Yuki Fujiwara's wagashi participate in their refinement. Yuki Fujiwara

The ritual is ancestral. In traditional Japanese wagashi pastries, whose shapes and flavors are inspired by the four seasons, from the arrival of spring, the cherry blossom is king. Fumito Yamagushi has placed a bonsai cherry tree in front of his Tokyo store: he announces the season of sakura specialties that the pastry chef will make until the petals are scattered. The flowers and leaves, marinated in salt to preserve color and flavor, come to flavor cakes made from sticky rice ( daifuku ) or wheat flour ( manju ) filled with red bean paste, agar-agar jellies ( youkan) ) and sakura mochi .

The cherry blossom embodies the aesthetic concept of wabi-sabi : this fragile and fleeting beauty that touches the Japanese

Fumito Yamagushi, pastry chef

The ingredient, says the craftsman, is unique. "The cherry blossom embodies the aesthetic concept of wabi-sabi : this fragile and ephemeral beauty that touches the Japanese" . Its sweetness is enjoyed at tea time, accompanied by sakura-yu , an infusion of flowers placed at the bottom of a cup, whose petals open as the simmering water is poured. A custom evoked by sakura green tea imagined for the season by Stéphane Danton, founder of the Ocharaka tea shop.

Read also: Poetic and fall stroll in Kyoto

The floral and slightly salty notes of Stéphane Danton's sakura tea recall the taste of the emblematic sakura mochi, a bite of pink sticky rice covered with a cherry leaf. Aimie Eliot

Taste the flower, imitate it too. The most aesthetic wagashi are real miniature sculptures, of which the cherry blossom is the main motif. Yuki Fujiwara is a master in this art. His creations tell the fleetingness of flowering, from budding until dusk, represented by a few petals floating on the water.

Wagashi not only satisfies the taste buds, "it stimulates our five senses. There is the taste and smell of pastry, mixed with the visual pleasure of shapes and colors, its texture, the melody of poetic names: it is this whole set that gives us joy ” , specifies the artist. . A few bites to live the spirit of hanami from inside, while waiting for the next flowering.