About the JFR and Harris Salat

I launched the Japanese Food Report as a journalistic inquiry into all aspects of Japanese food culture. My hope is that it serves as a place for people interested in the cuisine to learn, share and exchange know-how. I'm approaching this as a reporter: asking questions, thinking about things, explaining and reaching conclusions.

I got hooked on Japanese cooking on my first visit there a decade ago, when I discovered a deep culinary world way, way beyond the sushi I was familiar with. I've been returning to Japan ever since, visiting tofu makers, soy sauce makers, sake makers, shochu makers, farmers, fishermen, potters and grandmas to learn everything I can about the cuisine.

My stories about Japanese food culture have appeared in The New York Times, Gourmet, Saveur, Salon, Hemispheres and Islands, among other publications. I've also co-written three cookbooks with my friend Chef Tadashi Ono (the dude on the left in the photo).

Besides writing about Japanese cuisine, I cooked it, too -- for a year and half I volunteered in Chef Ono's kitchen a night a week, and a decade ago I realized a long-held dream and trained in restaurant kitchens in Japan, a seminal experience.

Enjoy the Japanese Food Report!

Photo: Me and Chef Tadashi Ono with the revered Chef Hisao Nakahigashi of Kyoto (center), in a field in Ohara, Japan. Image courtesy of the Tokyo-based photographer Jun Takagi -- please check out his work.