Fly from Haneda to London, Marseille, and then to Santiago.

In September, when there are no direct flights to Santiago de Compostela, it took more than a day to fly from Japan to Galicia, which is famous for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. It is quite a long trip.

Galicia, facing the Cantabrian Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, is a region with a thriving fishing industry and a coastline so complex that it is said to be the origin of the term "Rias coast. It has the largest fishing port in Europe, and its active aquaculture industry is said to be attracting attention from all over the world. But being in Japan, it is hard to get information down here.

Where the hell am I headed?"
The best way to learn about the charms of Galicia is to be guided by the tourism department of the Galician Region. The tourism department, which was consulted by a world-renowned maestro of Japanese cuisine who was coming to Galicia, kindly arranged several places for me to visit with Koyama.

So, with Galicia itself as our guide, we left the port and headed for two "farms" to explore the richness of the region's food.

Traditional Galician chili pepper, "pimiento de padrón."

The first stop is A Pementeira, an agricultural community facility located in an area called "Padrón," about 30 minutes by car from the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a World Heritage-listed pilgrimage site.

This place is said to be a major center for the "Pimiento de Padrón," the lion pepper for which the land is named. Koyama and I immediately spoke with the producer, Mr. Gonzalez Refojo Milagros.

A field of green chili peppers spreads out all around as you enter a plastic greenhouse. Padrón, located in the southwest of A Coruña Province in Galicia, is a historic place where the body of St. James the Great, enshrined in the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, is said to have washed ashore from Jerusalem.

The pimiento de padrón, a specialty of Galicia, is traditionally produced in such padrón. It looks like a small green pepper, like the Japanese shishito pepper, and its rounded green color is vivid to the eye.

Milagros has been making lion poppy in this area for generations. As soon as they met, Koyama gently grabbed Milagros' green sleeve.

knoll: "This coordinates with the chili, doesn't it?"

Milagros.: "Ha ha ha !!!! (Laughter)"

I don't understand Spanish, but Koyama's style is to suddenly steal hearts with his mischievous jokes. It is indeed Koyama's style.

Milagros.: This chili pepper is original to the region. It has old traditions and customs. Some are grown elsewhere and call themselves padrón, but that is different. Because padrón is the name of this place.

Its origins date back to the end of the 16th century. It was introduced by a missionary who visited the monastery of a small village in Padron.

Milagros.: The missionaries gave them away, saying, "Share these seeds with the poor and cultivate them. Then it was passed down, and it has been going on for 3-400 years. My grandmother and grandfather both grew these peppers. It must have been one of the vegetables that the missionaries brought from South America.

Milagros.The package has an illustration of a Galician woman doing farm work wearing a black skirt that she wears. You are actually harvesting now like this. Please try it!

Koyama looked surprised when I nibbled on a raw green pepper.

knollBitter: Bittersweet. This would be delicious fried in olive oil!

Milagros.Pimiento de Padrón: Yes, that's right! Pimiento de padrón" is a must-have snack for Spanish tapas. It is simply fried in olive oil and served with salt.

Pimiento de Padron served with tapas. It is covered with large grains of rock salt, thick and satisfying, and once you start eating it, you can't stop. Anyway, the beer went down a treat, and later Koyama took a liking to it so much that he ended up eating a mountain of it.

Milagros.I'm not sure if it's a Russian roulette thing, but it's not. It's like Russian roulette.

knollNot spicy, but a little bitter. I can eat it at all.

Milagros.: The ones that are allowed to ripen bright red do so in order to remove the seeds.

Milagros.: Chili peppers are in season in the summer. They are only grown from May to the end of October, but we also make jam to have people eat them throughout the year. There are two kinds: spicy and non-spicy.

Milagros.I would love to see Mr. Koyama take inspiration from this jam and create a new menu!

After being baptized in the bitterness and spiciness of traditional padrón peppers, the group left "A Pementeira" with a cheerful farmer who gave them a souvenir.

Encountering Wild Galician Vegetables

The next stop was the "La Finca de los Cuervos" farm. Cuervos is the Spanish word for "crows," and "finca" means "plantation. The literal translation of the word is "raven farm. I was greeted by Mr. Santiago, a farmer wearing a fashionable bright red wimble. The illustration of a bird on his back is also a bit cool. This farm grows vegetables for Michelin-starred high-end restaurants.

Santiago gave us a tour of the plantation.

Santiago: This farm is approximately 18,000 square meters in size. The land is divided by season to grow various vegetables. Since spring is over, we are now in the summer area, growing tomatoes and jalapenos. Japanese vegetables are also popular in Spanish restaurants, and we produce komatsuna, for example. Of course, you also grow vegetables that are unique to Galicia.

Santiago: We grow two kinds of tomatoes: Galician tomatoes and yellow tomatoes. We believe that tomatoes are neither too sweet nor too sour, so we control the water we give them to produce just the right balance of acidity and sugar content.

SantiagoThis (pictured above) is a daikon radish. The leaves are not eaten, but the meat can be eaten raw.

knollAmai: Sweet!　It tastes different from Japanese daikon! Delicious.

Santiago: This is a Galician vegetable that has a slightly bitter taste. It is harvested at about this size.

knoll: Oh, it's delicious! (With a surprised face) Sweet. Bittersweet. It would be delicious in a salad.

Santiago told us, "Our motto is to deliver vegetables in their purest state, as fresh as possible, to the chef."

After encountering a new vegetable and being surprised, Koyama dutifully walked around the vast farm and selected the next vegetable he wanted to use in his cooking.

knoll: These radishes look delicious. I see there was a stone underneath and it twisted and turned. I would love to use the leaves in my cooking too!

How did Galician vegetables look in Koyama's eyes?

knollI tasted many different kinds of vegetables, all with different flavors, but the base flavor, or "terroir" as it is called in French, is the same: the taste of the soil. I could tell that Galicia puts a lot of effort into the soil.

The most important characteristic of Galicia's climate is its high winter precipitation. This makes the soil less calcareous, but it also makes it a living soil that contains humus and fertilizers, making it ideal for growing vegetables. In addition, Galicia's soil contains all the nutrients that vegetables need, so vegetables grown here grow to their original, pure flavor.

On his way home, Koyama was interviewed by a Galician TV station and answered the interviewer as follows.

-How do you like being in Galicia?

knollI was: really looking forward to coming here. The whole place has a gentle feel to it. The water, light, and soil are abundant, and I thought it was wonderful that there are no stubborn parts.

-What was particularly interesting to you?

knoll: I have only just arrived, so there are only a few, but the snapper I cooked yesterday was just delicious. The fish was in good condition. It would be even more delicious if it were better processed in the Japanese style, such as by live strangling.

Vegetables grown in the rich soil of Galicia. The taste of the "earth" that can only be created here will lead to new inspiration for Mr. Koyama.

(Continued in Part 2)