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スパークリングワインと合わせる桃のスパゲティーニ Peach Spaghettini with Sparkling wine:おまかせ小品集 Chef's choice dishes collection

深夜食堂(ドラマの深夜食堂よりずっと前のお話)」でお出しした料理の小品集。材料がある限り何でも出してました。ほとんど即興だったので何百種類も作りましたが、お客様のエピソードを思い出せるものを少しづつ再現します(差し支えある話は多少脚色しています)。

A collection of small dishes served on "Midnight Diner" (a story that took place long before the TV drama "Midnight Diner"). We served anything as long as we had the ingredients. Since it was mostly improvisation, we made hundreds of dishes, but we will recreate little by little the ones that remind us of our customers' episodes (we have dramatized some of the more inappropriate stories).

おまかせの時間
The inspiration for the recipe

日本最大の夜の街でバーテンダーをしていたことがある。40年以上昔、学生時代の話だ。親の事業が破綻し全くお金が無かったので、なんとか大学には滑り込んだものの、同時に仕事もこなさなければ、喰うにも困る状態だった。幸い、プログラムを書くという特技があったので、昼間はゲームのプログラミングで食い繋いだ。それでも貧乏人ながら、海外に出てみたいと思っていたので、無理をして、深夜のバーテンダーの仕事を入れたのだった。当時は1ドル360円時代。ディスカウントチケットやワーキングホリデーなんか存在していない時代だったから、貧乏人が海外に出ることは、ほぼありえなかった。それで、駄目押しの深夜の仕事を思いついたのだけど、当然の結果として学業は疎かになった。美味いものや酒の味を覚えてしまったこともある。そんな駄目人間に夜の街は優しかった。
その街で、初めて親友と呼べる奴に会った。僕よりだいぶ年上で当時30歳、「ポン引き」を生業とする男だった。ポン引きというのは、路上でお客さんを捕まえてスナックやクラブに紹介する商売だ。お店に一人お客さんを紹介するたびに、千円の紹介料を店から受け取るシステムだった。ショバ代を支払わねばならず、闇社会とも接点があったが、ヤクザでは無かった。そんな彼は仕事を終わると、僕が勤めていたバーに寄るのが日課だった。彼は、仕事中は腰が低く、信じられないほど人当たりが良かった。でもそれは彼の一面でしかなかったのだろう。バーでは、カウンターの一番端に座って誰とも話さず、いつも静かに本を読んでいた。ある時、他のお客さんが居なくなって、彼が珍しく僕に話しかけて来た。世話噺以外では、初めてだった。その時、彼の読んでいたのは文壇デビューしたての村上春樹の受賞作。僕も、興味があって手に取り、ちょうど読み終わったところだった。僕がこの本のことを知っていたのが、彼には嬉しかったようで、それから僕らはよく話すようになった。
僕らはだんだん仲良くなり、バーが引ける時間になると、よく一緒に飲みに行くようになった。飲みに行くと言っても朝五時。流石に日本一の夜の街なので、朝方まで空いている店も多い。ただ、お互いに所持金はほとんど無かったので、蕎麦屋や牛丼屋で、朝ご飯を兼ねて飲んだ。その後、酒屋が開くのを待って、店頭でとことん飲んだ。二人とも、お金を貯めて、あてのない放浪の旅に出たいと思っていたので、そんな夢を取り留めなく語り合った。二年ほどして僕はこの街を離れることになり、携帯電話のない時代で、お互い素性は詮索しなかったので、早朝の楽しい飲み会は自然に消滅となった。

I used to work as a bartender in Japan's biggest nightlife district. This happened more than 40 years ago, when I was a student. My parents' business went bankrupt and I had no money, so I managed to get into university, but I had to work at the same time, otherwise I would have trouble making ends meet. Fortunately, I had a talent for writing programs, so I made ends meet by programming games during the day. Even though I was poor, I wanted to go abroad, so I made a big effort and took a job as a bartender late at night. At that time, the exchange rate was 360 yen to the dollar. It was a time when discount tickets and working holidays did not exist, so it was almost impossible for poor people to go abroad. So I came up with the idea of ​​a late-night job, but as a result, I neglected my studies. I also got used to the taste of delicious food and alcohol. The nightlife district was kind to such a loser.
In that town, I met the first person I could call my best friend. He was 30 years old, much older than me, and made his living as a pimp. A pimp is someone who catches customers on the street and introduces them to bars and clubs. For every customer they introduced to a bar, they received a 1,000 yen introduction fee from the bar. They had to pay protection money, and they had connections with the underworld, but they were not yakuza. After work, he would stop by the bar where I worked every day. He was humble and incredibly friendly during work. But that was probably only one side of him. At the bar, he would sit at the very end of the counter and read a book quietly, never talking to anyone. One day, when the other customers had left, he spoke to me, which was unusual. It was the first time he had done so outside of sewabanashi. At the time, he was reading an award-winning work by Murakami Haruki, who had just made his debut in the literary world. I was interested in it, so I picked it up and had just finished reading it. He seemed happy that I knew about the book, and we began to talk frequently after that.
We gradually became closer, and would often go out drinking together after the bars closed. By drinking, I mean at 5am. As expected, it's the number one nightlife district in Japan, so many establishments are open until the early hours. However, we both had very little money, so we went to a soba restaurant and a beef bowl restaurant and drank for breakfast. After that, we waited for the liquor store to open and drank our fill in front of it. We both wanted to save up money and go on a wandering journey, so we talked about that dream haphazardly. After about two years, I left the city, and since it was an era before cell phones, we didn't pry into each other's identities, so our fun early morning drinking sessions naturally died out.

彼のことはすっかり忘れていた。それから、十五年ぶりに深夜のこの街に来る機会ができた。米国人のクライアントの社長のアテンドだった。彼は、当時の白人には珍しく、焼き鳥やカラオケに興味があり、僕がこの繁華街を案内することになった。横丁の立ち食いの串焼き屋で食事を済ませた後、繁華街の最深部へ彼を連れて行った。久しぶりでお目当ての店があるわけではなく、キョロキョロしながら歩いていると、ポン引きに声をかけられた。蝶ネクタイに黒いスーツ姿は当時のまま、学生時代に一緒に飲んだ彼だった。彼も気がついたようで、お互いに長いハグをした。お客さんは僕がこの街の常連であるかのように驚いていたけど、全くの偶然だった。その時は携帯電話もあったので、連絡先を彼に渡した。
それからさらに十五年が経ち、僕は色んな巡り合わせで飲食に関わることになり、鎌倉のお店のカウンターに立つことになった。そんな時に彼から珍しく電話が入った。近況を伝えあって、僕がまたバーテンダーをしていることを告げると、彼はとても喜んでくれた。彼は相変わらず同じ街でポン引きを続けていた。それから数日後だろうか、彼が突然、鎌倉のお店を訪ねて来た。還暦近い彼の髪の毛は真っ白だった。聞けば、仕事を辞め、出身地の青森に帰るのだという。餞別に、僕はカヴァ(スペインの発泡ワイン)を彼に奢った。彼は、カウンターの籠に積んであった桃を指差して「じゃあ、桃のパスタを作ってもらおうかな。僕のお得意さんの店で、よくホステスさんが、シャンパンに合わせて桃のパスタを注文していて、一度食べたいと思っていたんだ」、その時作ったのがこのパスタだ。その後、お互いに電話を入れて近況を伝え合ったけど、ある時携帯電話は解約されていて、彼とはそれっきりになってしまった。

I had completely forgotten about him. Then, I had a chance to come to this town late at night for the first time in 15 years. I was attending to the president of an American client. He was interested in yakitori and karaoke, which was unusual for a white person at that time, so I decided to show him around this downtown area. After eating at a standing skewer restaurant in a side street, I took him to the deepest part of the downtown area. It had been a long time since I last visited, and there was no particular restaurant I was looking for, so as I was walking around looking around, a pimp called out to me. He was still wearing his bow tie and black suit, and it was him, who I had drunk with in my student days. He seemed to recognize me, and we gave each other a long hug. The customer was surprised as if I was a regular in this town, but it was a complete coincidence. I had a cell phone with me at the time, so I gave him my contact information.
Another fifteen years passed, and I ended up working in the food and beverage industry through various coincidences, and ended up working at the counter of a restaurant in Kamakura. At that time, I received a rare phone call from him. We exchanged updates and I told him that I was working as a bartender again, and he was very happy. He continued to work as a pimp in the same town. A few days later, he suddenly visited my restaurant in Kamakura. He was close to turning sixty, and his hair was completely white. I heard that he was quitting his job and returning to his hometown of Aomori. As a parting gift, I bought him a Cava (Spanish sparkling wine). He pointed to the peaches piled up in a basket on the counter and said, "I'll ask you to make me some peach pasta. At one of my regular customers' restaurants, the hostesses often order peach pasta to go with their champagne, and I've always wanted to try it." This is the pasta I made for him. After that, we called each other to exchange updates, but one day he canceled his cell phone contract, and that was the last time I heared him.

夜の街バージョンは、生ハムと繊細なカッペリーニを組み合わせることが多い。ただその時は、生ハムもカッペリーニも切れていたのでスパゲティーニと胡桃を組み合わせたベジタリアンバージョンを作った。毎年桃の季節が巡ってくると、彼との楽しかった飲み会のことを思い出しながら、このパスタを食べている。

The Night City version is often paired with prosciutto and delicate capellini. However, at the time, I was out of both prosciutto and capellini, so I made a vegetarian version by combining spaghettini and walnuts. Every year when peach season comes around, I eat this pasta while remembering the fun drinking parties I had with him.

Today's Ingredients:
今日の素材:

スパゲティーニ

胡桃
ライム
バジル(オプション)
自然塩
胡椒
エキストラバージンオリーブオイル

Spaghettini
Peaches
Walnuts
Lime
Basil (optional)
Natural salt
Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

procedure:
つくり方:

桃は、皮を剥き、身を削ぎ取る。崩れてしまって構わない。
胡桃と桃の半量は、フードプロセッサーで、クリーム状になるくらいにすり潰しておく。
パスタを、表記の茹で時間より、2分ほど短く茹でる。
鍋に、オリーブオイルとパスタの茹で汁を入れ、桃を入れて少し煮る。
そこに、パスタと桃と胡桃のペースト、塩胡椒をして、煮汁を絡めるようにかき混ぜる。
最後に、刻んだバジルを入れて、自然塩とライムで味を整える。

Peel the peaches and scrape off the flesh. It's okay if it crumbles.
Mash the walnuts and half the peaches in a food processor until they become creamy.
Boil the pasta for about 2 minutes less than the recommended cooking time.
Put the olive oil and pasta cooking water in a pot, add the peaches and simmer for a little while.
Add the pasta, peach and walnut paste, salt and pepper, and stir to mix with the cooking water.
Finally, add the chopped basil and season with salt and lime.

ヒントとバリエーション
Recipe tips and variation

桃は高いけど、少し固かったり、熟しすぎて安くなったもが手に入った時に作ると良い。
桃は、少し硬い場合は、煮る時間を長くすると良い。完熟なら、さっと煮るだけで良い。
オイリーになると、桃の風味が損なわれるので、あえてエキストラバージンオリーブオイルを使っているが、好みで他の油を使っても良い。
胡桃以外に、カシューナッツや松の実を使っても良い。
ベジタリアンでないならサワークリームやヨーグルトを混ぜても美味しい。また、余裕があるなら、最後に生ハムをトッピングしても良い。
バジルは、チャービル、ディル、フェンネル、ミントでも良い。
冷製バージョンを作る場合は、カッペリーニを茹でて、流水で締めておき、加熱しないで、同様の材料で和えると良い。その場合は、完熟の桃を使うこと。
イタリアのカクテルの名作「ベリーニ」を想像すれば得心するが、発泡ワインとの相性が非常に良い。少量を作って、前菜に添えるのもありだ。

Peaches are expensive, but it's good to make this when you can get some that are a little hard or overripe and cheap.
If the peaches are a little hard, you can simmer them for a longer time. If they are ripe, you can just simmer them briefly.
I use extra virgin olive oil because the flavor of the peaches is lost when they are too oily, but you can use other oils if you like.
You can also use cashew nuts or pine nuts instead of walnuts.
If you're not vegetarian, you can also mix in sour cream or yogurt. If you have room, you can also top it with prosciutto at the end.
You can also use chervil, dill, fennel, or mint instead of basil.
If you want to make a cold version, boil the capellini, rinse them under running water, and mix them with the same ingredients without heating them. In that case, use ripe peaches.
It's easy to imagine the classic Italian cocktail "Bellini," but it goes very well with sparkling wine. You can make a small amount and serve it as an appetizer.

サワークリームと自家製ベーコンを加えた冷製バージョン

Guide to where to get ingredients and equipment
材料と機材の入手先ガイド

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