In the town of Seta-nay, Hiyama Province, Hokkaido, on a hillside with a spectacular view of the emerald coast in summer and the wild white waves in winter, preparations are underway for the construction of a workshop for charcuterie (meat processing) and pastry by Mr. Kodai Takahashi and his wife Yurina Takahashi, who will return to their home town in 2020, The name is "Satkam Seta-nay. In this issue, we will introduce the story of Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi.

How a one-star restaurant chef became a charcuterie

Mr. Kodai Takahashi, who is in charge of charcuterie at "Satkam Seta-nay," decided to pursue a career in cooking and worked as a teacher at a culinary school in France for three years from 2010. He also trained at a starred restaurant in France, and after returning to Japan, he worked at Michel Bras Toya in Hokkaido. He then launched "Kyoto Ito", which combines French techniques and Japanese culinary traditions, and as head chef of French cuisine, together with Japanese chef Kenji Okawara, he was awarded a Michelin star.

In 2020, he and his family made a U-turn and moved to his hometown of Setona, Hokkaido, to work for his brother's company, Takahashi Livestock Farms Co. I worked as a pig farmer and sold processed products such as dried sausages and snacks on weekends only.

Sakkamusetanai" was so popular that shoppers came from out of town, but production was limited. So now they have decided to start their own business and are constructing a workshop in the Futoro district of Setanamachi.

Fusion of Ainu food culture "Sakkam" and modern times

When Mr. Hiroki thought about European and French food culture, which is the background of processed meat products such as dry sausages, he wondered if importing it directly to Japan would end up in copying it. That is when he came across the Ainu food culture of "sakkam," which has been passed down through generations in Hokkaido.

Sakkam is so-called "dried meat," a meat product made by drying and aging venison and other meat products. When Mr. Kudo learned of this, he thought that this food culture might be related to cured ham and dried sausages. Using the meat processing techniques and knowledge he had learned in France, he decided that he could enrich Hokkaido's food culture and make the region where he was born and raised even more attractive by delivering a "completely new type of sakkam" that had evolved to meet modern food culture and tastes.

The fusion of "sakkam," the unique culture of the indigenous Ainu people of this region, with modern meat processing technology and food culture, and its rebirth into something completely new, has given new depth to the Takahashi's idea of "total coordination of food," based on their motto, "from appetizer to dessert.