As 2014 dawned, I celebrated my partner’s birthday at the Sicilian restaurant byebyeblues Tokyo. It’s the Tokyo branch of the original “byebyeblues” located in Mondello, a coastal town north of Palermo, the capital of Sicily, which opened in 2020. The restaurant in Sicily has been renowned for earning a Michelin star for ten consecutive years. This was my first encounter with Sicilian cuisine, and I was thoroughly impressed by the delicate flavors brought out by owner-chef Patrizia Di Benedetto. The pairing with Sicilian wines was also impeccable. The interior of the restaurant, evoking the Mediterranean, intensified my desire to visit Sicily.
The website of byebyeblues Tokyo describes their culinary philosophy as follows: ‘While utilizing olive oil, vegetables, fruits, spices, and an abundance of Mediterranean seafood, we serve dishes that are unexpectedly light yet deeply satisfying. While we faithfully recreate the essence of the original ‘bye bye blues’ cuisine, a distinctive feature is Patrizia’s hands-on approach. She personally travels across Japan, visiting various localities to handpick the Japanese ingredients used in our dishes. This dedication certainly heightens the sense of anticipation.”
Sicily, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, shares similarities with Japan, a nation also encircled by the sea. Both regions boast a rich variety of seafood and have developed cuisines that predominantly feature marine ingredients. It’s likely that “byebyeblues” chose Tokyo for its access to Japan’s bountiful seafood.
Sicilian cuisine is a type of Mediterranean diet, which includes fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, and fish, all generously dressed with olive oil. Olive oil, rich in healthy unsaturated fatty acids, reduces bad LDL cholesterol and helps prevent hypertension and arteriosclerosis.
The Mediterranean diet gained attention for its health benefits in 1985, following a study by Dr. Ancel Keys of the University of Minnesota. His research, conducted across seven countries – Japan, the United States, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece – revealed that despite a high-fat diet, Mediterranean coastal countries exhibited low blood cholesterol levels and reduced incidences of diseases such as myocardial infarction and strokes due to arteriosclerosis.
To illustrate this more clearly, I will show you the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid. Created in 1993 by the American non-profit organization Oldways, in collaboration with the Harvard School of Public Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), it categorizes the frequency of various food groups used in the Mediterranean diet. It visually guides on what and how much to eat, with foods at the base of the pyramid being healthier and recommended for frequent consumption, while those at the top should be eaten less often.
The Mediterranean Diet and Japanese Cuisine are often regarded as two of the world’s leading longevity diets. They share the benefit of incorporating ingredients that help prevent hypertension and arteriosclerosis, such as vegetables, fruits, and seafood. However, they also share a common drawback: a high salt content. The Mediterranean Diet counters the harmful effects of salt by consuming a plentiful amount of potassium-rich vegetables and fruits. In contrast, the Japanese diet typically includes less of these, not sufficiently offsetting the adverse effects of salt, leading to a higher prevalence of hypertension among Japanese men (60.0%) and women (44.6%). This suggests that Japanese people should perhaps consume more vegetables and fruits. Nowadays, the Japanese diet is not exclusively traditional; it includes a variety of cuisines. Learning from the Mediterranean Diet and incorporating its beneficial aspects into daily eating habits can be effective for health.
The birthday meal was a resounding success. My partner and I, now avid fans of Sicilian cuisine, reveled in the exploration of flavors – discovering both similarities and unique distinctions between Japanese and Sicilian dishes. This experience not only whetted our appetite for the yet unseen Sicily but also left us with a sense of nostalgia and exotic charm for the Mediterranean, along with an appreciation for its healthy cuisine.
(Addendum) I’d like to share the nine dishes we experienced.
Sfincione: A kind of focaccia and a popular street food around Palermo. It’s topped with tomatoes, onions, anchovies, cheese, and breadcrumbs. The tomato sauce and Lorenzo’s olive oil from Barbera added a delightful accent to the flavor.
Small Appetizer (Arancini): Inside these rice croquettes, there’s a lemon risotto, offering a rich and deep taste.
Fresh Fish, Caper in the Style of Thorn Tree, Sicilian Oregano: Today’s carpaccio was flatfish. Salted capers were used, giving a kelp-tightened, marinated aroma. In the center, a foam scented with Sicilian oregano beautifully adorned the plate. Tomato chips, cranberries, and fresh tomato sauce enhanced the flatfish’s flavor.
Spaghetti, Sea Urchin, Egg: Carbonara using Mancini spaghetti from the central Sicilian region of Marche. The base is egg and chicken broth, and it tastes distinctly of carbonara, even without any cheese. The topping of sea urchin complements it beautifully.
Spiny Lobster Zuppa: A pasta dish featuring a soup made with Sardinian spiny lobsters, similar to Japanese spiny lobsters, and referred to as “Aragosta” in Sicily. The use of these lobsters, akin to the esteemed Japanese Ise-ebi, brings out a rich aroma and taste, wonderfully accentuated with basil, creating a truly mesmerizing dish.
Hiroshima Beef with Ragusano Cheese: Ragusano cheese was added and grilled, bringing a savory aroma to the dish. Lavishly topped with black truffle. The Nero d’Avola sauce (red wine sauce) went wonderfully with the meat. The accompanying rapini was also delicious. Rapini, a green vegetable in the Brassica family, is rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C, and iron, and gets its name from its asparagus-like flavor and texture.
Caviar Risotto: Risotto hidden beneath caviar, nestled in a foam scented with Sicilian oregano. An exquisite taste.
Chestnut Baba with Rosemary: A traditional Neapolitan dessert, Baba, soaked in rum syrup, topped with chestnut cream and candied chestnuts, and a base of salted lemon sauce – truly an adult dessert. Another dessert featured white chocolate and rosemary gelato with rosemary chips panelle, offering a subtly sweet flavor for the mature palate.
After-Dinner Drink and Petit Fours: Nine types of bite-sized sweets made with nuts, available for choosing as many as you’d like.
Side Bread: The homemade natural yeast bread and sesame grissini. Paired beautifully with Lorenzo’s olive oil, consistently delicious.
