The agri-food product presents an additional difficulty in the internationalisation process because its capacity to be global in its full dimension is less than that of other products. Food and drink are linked to the most deeply-rooted customs of each country, to childhood memories, to palates formed over decades, etc., and it is not easy for them to find their way into the kitchens of homes and restaurants in other countries.
When selling abroad, it is difficult for the exporter to understand the peculiarities of the target market, and for the importer or agent to relate the food of another place to that of their own. The approach of our event proposal was based on the idea of creating a profound link between the gastronomic cultures of the two countries in two ways: firstly, from Spain to Japan in search of those ingredients that make sense and have a place in the Japanese diet and recipes, and secondly, from Japan to Spain in search of a Japanese way of eating.
The request for this work was part of the annual competition for Iberian ham cutters organised in Japan by Extenda, Andalusia’s foreign trade promotion agency. The spirit of the proposal was to bring the gastronomy of the two countries closer together. The aim was to discover and explain how Andalusian products can be incorporated into Japanese gastronomic culture. The purpose of Ohayō was to open the door to home kitchens and popular Japanese restaurants in order to increase the consumption of Andalusian products beyond sporadic or festive occasions.
To this end, Spanish chef and a Japanese chef, were commissioned to create recipes from their respective countries using ingredients from the other country, as part of the “Japan and Andalusia sit at the table” concept developed by Ohayō. These recipes were illustrated by Rafael Obrero to create a booklet for the participants of the event. The structure of Ohayō’s presentation, given by Rosa Muñoz in collaboration with the chefs, was built around a series of emblematic products of Andalusian exports. These products were researched in order to find points of contact between the two gastronomies, and textual and visual content was developed for the occasion, with the aim of creating a presentation that would appeal to the Japanese audience, combining didactic information about the products with the appeal of the unique visual character of the landscapes and agri-food products that were the subject of the presentation.
The presentation was held in Japanese at two locations, the Kyoto Tower Hotel in Kyoto and the prestigious Hattori Nutrition College Cookery School in Tokyo for Japanese chefs, importers, restaurateurs and nutritionists.
