KOJI TGE KITCHEN Academy was held in April 2022 as the second installment of "KOJI THE KITCHEN," a "creative exploration project for a food culture centered on seed koji" that aims to bring out the new appeal of koji.
Since we received many requests for a second event after the first one, we are now holding the second event.
"I want to learn about koji from various perspectives, including nature and culture."
"I want to taste the deliciousness of local ingredients and koji"
"I want to make greater use of koji"
"I want to talk with friends who are interested in koji"
This is recommended for those people.
*Current knowledge of koji is not required. We welcome participation from people with various backgrounds.
Impressions from the first participants
Taking into account the human and cultural background, I believe we can now confidently spread (communicate) the culture of koji.
By not only attending lectures but also discussing with others, I was able to deepen my understanding and learn various ways of thinking.
I was impressed by how amazingly the professionals use koji.
I had never had the opportunity to understand starter koji from an overview, so I found the overview very interesting.
It was the first time I thought of having a meal as an "experience."
The pace was good and I learned a lot.
I learned a lot, from how to make rice koji to its applications in cooking, to the culture and global trends of koji.
*Jumps to the loftwork report page.
KOJI THE KITCHEN Academy vol.2
The KOJI THE KITCHEN project is an exploratory project to create a new food culture centered around koji starter.
For over 600 years since our founding in the Muromachi period, Kojiya Sanzaemon has been providing brewing manufacturers across the country with starter koji, the raw material for koji, the foundation of Japan's fermentation culture, and continuing to work with koji.
The traditional culture of "koji," which utilizes the properties of the various types of koji fungus that live in Japan, has seen a definite boom in recent years.
With the development of fermentation communities based on people who make their own rice koji, the appearance of shops and cafes selling fermented foods, and the rise of the amazake boom as a "drinkable IV drip," koji is becoming a movement that is going beyond being just a raw material for making products such as soy sauce, miso, and sake.
And in world-famous restaurants such as Noma, koji-making and fermentation have become new culinary techniques, elevated to a gourmet identity, and various ways to utilize koji starter are being discovered one after another, expanding its possibilities in every direction.
Through the KOJI THE KITCHEN project, Kojiya Sanzaemon will collaborate with various ideas in the four fields of koji-related art, science, design, and engineering to explore and unveil previously unknown deliciousness created with koji starter.
Kojiya Sanzaemon will continue to explore and create a new food culture using koji together with all of our colleagues who share an interest in the possibilities of fermentation and koji, and will build a future base for fermentation culture starting from the Higashi Mikawa region.