First a teaser – A recent trip to Japan will be featured in a new set of Culinary Journey posts. For newer readers, we have done a set of posts on trips to South Korea (start here) and on Spain (start here) to reflect on insights about cuisine, culture, and approaches to food globally, always returning our focus to the cuisine of the Great Lakes region.

Here was just a bit of inspiration from our first breakfast in Japan:

O! Perilla dressing,
Warm rice with mackerel, soy,
Pickled plums, seaweed.

An idea: wild rice,
Smoked lake fish, maple glazed squash,
Pickled ramps, fire dried ramp leaves.

One can never say where a journey will take us.