もったいない精神がガラパゴス進化を遂げた珍食の代名詞
伊豆諸島新島名物、スゴい臭いの発酵干物。江戸時代から絶えることなく継ぎ足されている秘伝の「くさや液」にアオムロやトビウオなどの青魚を浸し、野外で干す。最大の特徴は独特の、というか激しくクサい香り。この発生源となるくさや液は、江戸時代に幕府に塩を税として取り上げられ、塩漬け液を使いまわしていたら謎の発酵作用によって誕生したもの。それがやがて風流人の評判となり伊豆諸島の名物物産品へと進化した。くさやのようなガラパゴス珍食は日本の発酵文化の醍醐味だ。

A byword for the rare delicacies that spring from the “waste not want not” values of an isolated culture
A famed delicacy from Niijima, in the Izu Archipelago, kusaya is a strongly pungent variety of dried, fermented fish. Since the Edo Period, the people of the islands have submerged mackerel scad, flying fish and other similar species in the legendary kusaya-eki (unique pickling juice used for making kusaya), before drying the fish outdoors. The most obvious feature of kusaya is the powerfully pungent aroma. The source of this aroma, the kusaya-eki, was born as a result of the Edo Period Shogunate’s taxation of salt, which prompted people to use salty pickling fluid many times, leading to the discovery of its fermenting properties. As over time connoisseurs came to prize kusaya, the product became an icon of the Izu islands. The unique, isolated development of a delicacy represented by kusaya is symbolic of the fermentation culture of Japan.

どう作って食べるか / HOW TO MAKE & EAT

❶内蔵を取り去り開いた魚の切り身を、くさや液に1日弱漬ける。
❷漬けた魚をよく洗い、天日で1〜数日干す。
★ 新島では野外で焼いて食べる。室内だと臭いがこもって困るので。

❶Gut the fish, and pickle it in kusaya-eki for just under a day.
❷Thoroughly wash the pickled fish, then sun dry it for between one and several days.
★ In Niijima, kusaya is often cooked and eaten outdoors. Preparing and eating it indoors can leave problematic odors.

焼き魚として
As fried fish

▶食べられている地域 / Regions where it is eaten
伊豆諸島一帯、および全国の珍食好き
Throughout the Izu Archipelago, and by rare food lovers all over Japan

▶微生物の種類 / Types of microorganisms
コリネバクテリウムなどその他細菌類、酢酸菌など
Corynebacterium, and other varieties, Acetic bacteria, etc.

写真集『発酵する日本』事前予約をお願いします！

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