Tsuzuki Soba Workshop
Tsuzuki Soba Workshop
Iya is known for its deep and steeply sloping valleys. Here, it’s impossible to create rice paddies, and so the inhabitants grow other grains that are better suited to slopes, using organic farming methods used for over a thousand years. One of the main grains produced is soba. It’s prepared in various ways, including soba noodles.
If you’d like to see how the rough brown grains are turned into smooth and savoury noodles, Atelier Tsuzuki is the place. Tsuzuki-san is something of a global celebrity these days, known not only for her soba teaching skills, but also for her prize-winning traditional songs.
Tsuzuki Soba is perched on the valley side above a river. Tsuzuki-san doesn’t speak English, but she takes charge of you with good humoured grace, and shows you how to mill the soba with the hand-powered millstones, how to knead the flour, and most difficult, how to roll the dough ready for cutting into noodles. It’s a surprisingly meditative and calming experience. Then the noodles are boiled and taken into the log cabin next door, where they’re served for lunch with an array of thoroughly delicious local items including venison, wild vegetables, and nutty-tasting potatoes that only grow in Iya.
After lunch, Tsuzuki-san may sing you a traditional love song.
Information
Name in Japanese: つづき商店
Pronunciation: tsuzuki shōten
Address: 84-1 Higashiiyawakabayashi, Miyoshi, Tokushima 778-0204
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