Natsu no Monogatari Oribu launch Tag

Japanese Seasonality — Why Oribu Changes Its Menu Twice a Year and Why That Matters More Than You Think

In Japanese, the word shun (旬) refers to the specific, brief period when an ingredient is at its absolute peak. It is a concept that has no precise English equivalent, because English culinary culture — which developed in a climate where seasonal extremes were less dramatic and preservation technologies more advanced — never needed the vocabulary for the idea that an ingredient has a window of perfection that passes and does not return until the following year. Shun is the...