動物のネズミの形している鼠大根。辛いぞ！
漬物の話は2つがあります。まずは近所の斉藤さんを見たら、沢山の大根を干す作業していました。聞いたら、地元の辛い「鼠大根」という種類なので毎年、奥さんが味付けをするそうです。本人は大好きなので１００ｋｇも買ってきて、準備をしているわけです。毎年、味付けがちょっと違うけど、それは1つな楽しみといっていました。鼠大根の沢庵はどんな味でしょうか？出か上がったら試食をお願いしておきました。
そして、遠い親戚の北山おじさんがやってきました。「おなを持ってきた」と言いはりました。最初は「女」だと思っていたので北山おばさんが来ているかなと。「おんなじゃなくて、おな！この辺で野沢菜はおなと言うよ。」あっ、なるほどど。10タブも持ってくれはった。これからはお客さんの漬物として出し始まります。
信州の冬は寒いでいやな部分があるけど、その文で漬物で恵まれています。
Two Tsukemono (Pickled/Preserved Veggies) stories.
Our neighbor Saito-san was spreading out a bunch of daikon radishes to dry in the winter sun. When I asked him about them, he said they were our local 'nezumi' radish, which packs a potent spicy punch. He prepares them every year for his wife to preserve, so they can have home-made takuwan (preserved daikon) all winter. Every year the taste comes out a little different, but that's something he says he looks forward to. This year he bought 100 kgs. That's a lot of takuwan! I made sure to ask him for a sample when they are finished making them.
Also today, our distant relative, Kitayama-san, showed up in his K-Truck and said he brought "ona". At first I thought he said "onna" which means woman, so I started looking out for his wife. (She's a real battle-axe of a woman.) But then he said "Not onna, ona -- 'round here we call nozawana (our local preserved vegetable specialty) ona." Ahh, I see. He had brought us 10 bundles of the aromatic nozawana that he flavored himself. This is what we serve to our guests with their meals.
Winter in Nagano is cold, but that also means great preserved veggies!
