４月１０日（火曜日）２０１８
二週間あまりの留守の間にIご夫妻からいただいた鮒（ふな）寿司が冷凍室に真空パックのまま３尾も入っています。鮒寿司は滋賀県の名産です。製法を調べると、春に琵琶湖で捕れたフナの内蔵を口から取り出し、そこへ塩を詰めてさらに塩漬けにして（塩切り）夏まで置き、取り出して水洗いし、炊きたてのご飯を詰めフナの外もご飯で囲み樽に詰め落としぶたをして上に重しを置いて秋まで待つそうです。独特の発酵臭がするので、子供の時は家で大人が樽を開けていると大騒ぎで逃げ回っていましたが、やがてこれが食通の珍味として重宝がられていることを知り、自分でもその美味しさが分かるようになった時には、鮒寿司はかなりの高級品で私の口に入る事はめったにありませんでした。I さんから頂いた鮒寿司は特に高価な子持ちのメスで私が今まで見てきた中で一番立派なものでした。鮒寿司が大好物だった亡き母を思い出しながら、先ずは最初の一尾を何とも贅沢な気分で味わわせて頂きました。While I was away from Taga for about two weeks, Mr.and Mrs S.I. brought three vacuum packs of Funazushi (fermented crusian carp sushi) for me and they had been kept in freezer since then. Funazushi is a local specialty in Shiga. According to the internet, the process is the following. (1) Catch crucian carps from Biwa lake in the spring and take out their innards from their mouths. Then put salt inside of them and keep them until the summer. (2) Wash them with water and put freshly boiled rice in and outside of crucian carps. Immersed them in a barrel with a weight. (3) Wait until the fall. Since it has a strong fermentation odor, when I was little, I was always running away from the sight of the Funazushi. After a while, I knew that they are a valuable delicacy and I came to like the taste but I didn't have a chance to eat it because it turned out to be very expensive. The Funazushi from Mr. and Mrs S.I. were big whirlpool crucian carps which I have never seen before. Remembering my mother who liked it very much, I tasted it, feeling luxurious. It was so good!
