Harvest & Cook Seasonal Vegetables w/ a Vegetable Sommelier at Echigo-Yuzawa, Niigata
Overview
At a farmhouse in Niigata Prefecture's Echigo-Yuzawa, harvest vegetables and try your hand at simple farm work. Then, enjoy a home-cooked Niigata-style lunch made with the vegetables you just harvested.
Highlights
- A brief immersion into the rural life — cycle leisurely on an e-bike, try your hand at farming, and enjoy a home-cooked lunch
- Get advice from your host, an expert local farmer who's earned the title of "vegetable sommelier," on the best ways to grow and enjoy vegetables
- For lunch, make a healthy Niigata-style meal out of the vegetables you harvested
- Try homemade preserved food — a specialty of the area — and learn about Niigata's food culture
Key Information
Description
Surrounded by mountains and seas, and with pure water flowing from the mountains, Echigo-Yuzawa in Niigata Prefecture is blessed with abundant natural resources. As such, this town is known for high-quality sake, rice, and produce. Take a brief immersion into the farming life and taste the difference as you visit a local vegetable sommelier — an expert at growing fresh, excellent produce! From the meeting point, which is close to Echigo-Yuzawa Station, you'll rent an e-bike to cycle to the sommelier's cozy farmhouse, where you'll be welcomed with top-notch hospitality. There, you'll harvest seasonal vegetables and do simple farm work such as pulling out root crops and washing produce. Your host will also give you a taste of preserved food — an Echigo-Yuzawa specialty and a time-honored tradition, as the locals have come up with the best ways to preserve food to last the area's long winters. Next, try your hand at Niigata-style home cooking as you make a hearty, healthy lunch with the vegetables you just harvested. Enjoy chatting at the table as you dig into your meal, then cycle back to Echigo-Yuzawa Station.