More and more people around the world are enjoying the delights of Japanese cuisine. It is celebrated not only for its deliciousness, but also for its healthiness, freshness, presentation and diversity. But what are the elements that come together to create truly authentic Japanese food?

The story of how Japanese cuisine came to exist today in all its various forms is a fascinating one, which spans the millennia and is linked to many of the factors that make up the nation of Japan itself, including geography, climate and social and economic trends.

The Japanese archipelago stretches for over 3,000 kilometres from North to South, encompassing flat, fertile plains, steep mountain ranges and extremes of heat and cold, and surrounded by a number of bountiful seas and oceans. There are also many freshwater springs and rivers, whose water is noticeably softer than that found in many other parts of the world, particularly Europe and China.

Throughout history, geographical and meteorological conditions have influenced the development of Japanese cuisine, and have given rise to a number of styles of cuisine, many of which, although not consumed on an everyday basis, remain to this day.

Each area of Japan has developed its own cooking styles and representative dishes that make the most of local ingredients and growing conditions, but one element that is constant throughout the country is the use of dashi, or stock, as an indispensable basis for many dishes. Made using the soft water that is prevalent in Japan, as well as a selection of full-flavoured ingredients, dashi differs from Western stock in the way that it draws out the flavour of other ingredients in a dish, rather than simply adding its own.

In addition to dashi, Japanese cuisine relies on a number of other essential ingredients and condiments, without which the majority of typical dishes could simply not be made. Many of these are derived from rice, which has been the staple food of the Japanese for thousands of years, or soya beans, which also have a long history of use in cooking.

This site provides an insight into all the topics outlined above, along with a host of delicious recipes for you to try, and it is hoped that it will enhance your enjoyment of Japanese cuisine, wherever you are in the world.