The rice sommelier

[Hiroyuki]

Since the proprietor of the rice store Suzunobu, which I mentioned in my previous post in this thread, is an "o-kome no sommelier" (rice sommelier), I thought this would be a good opportunity to inform eGullet members what it is. And I also wanted to tell you about the "o-kome meister" (rice meister).

But I have found out that they are not worth mentioning here. Then again, this may be a good opportunity to seek the opinions of many in an international audience about these casual, careless misuses of words.

To become an o-kome no sommelier, you need a total of 106,000 yen for a 2-day (6.5-hour) course, certification, and membership. That's it. Then, you become an o-kome no sommelier.

Do you believe this?

This information is from the following website (in Japanese):

http://www.673.jp/rice/m8/somu.htm

This site criticizes the o-kome no sommelier system, and introduces the "o-kome meister" system", newly established last year:

http://www.jrra.or.jp/maistar/main.html

According to the site, applicants for the "o-kome meister" must be

1) The proprietor of a governor-registered store, or a family member or employee, and

2) Engaged in rice retail trade for five years or longer, and

3) A member of a prefectural rice retailer union.

The fee for the test and certification is 5,000 yen including lunch. The rate of successful applicants was about 80% of the total last year (first year).

I'd like to seek the opinions of many, especially French and German members, who know what sommeliers and meisters really are.

I remember that decades ago (I don't recall when), Frenchmen protested against the use of the word "champagne" by a major Japanese winery in Katsunuma; not the taste or quality of the sparkling wine they produced, but the misuse of the word champagne.

Association of o-kome no sommeliers:

米・食味鑑定士協会

Kome Shokumi Kanteishi Kyokai

(The Rice-based Diet Taste Surveyor Society)

http://www.syokumikanteisi.gr.jp/index.htm

I also would like to know whether you consider the requirements for the applicant for the o-kome meister sufficient.

Thank you.

Edited April 1, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[torakris]

Hiroyuki,

that is very interesting!

Edited April 1, 2004 by torakris (log)

[Hiroyuki]

that is very interesting!

Is that all you have to say?

I WEEP, really, when I'm drunk and think about this sommelier and meister thing.

I want to say to them:

A good wine needs no bush.

You don't call yourself a genius unless you are a fool. (Or do you?)

Stop calling yourself a sommelier or meister.

You are just a surveyor, right?

You are disgracing yourself, and the real sommelier and meister.

I shouldn't get so emotional, anyway. I don't know why I get so emotional when I think of this.

Thank you for the information about rice prices.

[torakris]

that is very interesting!

Is that all you have to say?

Sorry

I don't really know anything about the subject to comment...

I didn't even know there was such a thing as a rice sommelier and had definitely never heard of meister before. I have nothing to compare it to in the wine field as I don't drink and know absolutely nothing about wine sommelier qualifications.

I also am very interested to hear what others think.

[Hiroyuki]

Thank you for your concern. Let's see what other members have to say about this subject. I want to know whether I am only overreacting.

[Jinmyo]

Dude, chill.

It's good to know about different kinds and grades of rice.

[torakris]

Is there any other place in the world that uses the term sommelier not in connection with wine? This doesn't seem to be a title recognized internationally as I am having a difficult time finding any English resources on the topic.

[Jinmyo]

There are water sommeliers in the U.S.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I *believe* there are also tea and coffee sommeliers. (or are they just known as tasters?)

[Jinmyo]

And "such-and-such-meister" is regularly used in a jocular fashion.

[Moopheus]

Stop calling yourself a sommelier or meister.

Given the role of rice in Japanese cuisine, I'm kind of surprised that the Japanese language does not already have a word indicating a similar kind of expertise in rice. Why is there a need to borrow a word like sommolier?

[Hiroyuki]

in a jocular fashion

Oh, yes, I know.

Maybe I am overreacting. But I won't be satisfied until I hear some final word from a sommelier(s) or meiter(s).

[Louisa Chu]

Sorry - you still won't be satisfied because I'm neither a sommelier nor a meister - but I do share your disappointment - but just a pale shadow of your outrage! I was VERY excited to see your post title because I THOUGHT that there was such a serious qualification - BUT apparently there's NOT. But I do find it amusing that the meister certification fee includes lunch! As someone who's been a chef/owner, I feel totally comfortable with just being called a cook in the company of those from whom I'm now learning. Those titles - sommelier, meister, chef - have just been tossed around too much now with people with a few bucks spent on courses and tests. We've had this discussion before on the title of chef and it's been a heated one. It would be amazing to really learn from a rice master. I've just been starting to REALLY explore the world of rice - with the help of my friend/ex-roommate/fellow Cordon Bleu Grace - whose mom grew up in one of the premier rice regions in South Korea. Her family makes PILGRIMAGES there now JUST to eat the rice - well, that and maybe play a little golf. BUT I do eat some rice now and want to spit it out across the room - it tastes DEAD - like drinking a bouchone-ed wine - just horrible. Is there no real know rice master in the world? Surely there must be. If not there needs to be.

[divina]

I am surprised in a country where MASTERS are so respected as to be national treasures, that this would be taken so lightly.. but perhaps the phrase sommellier is being used.. to set it apart from being a MASTER.. a lower level.. perhaps a beginning level.

[torakris]

Hiroyuki,

Do you know if there are any other titles in Japan for "real" masters of rice?

Ones that you get from real knowledge rather than a big pocketbook?

[Hiroyuki]

there are any other titles in Japan for "real" masters of rice?

I'm afraid not.

The recent moves involving sommeliers and meisters stem mainly from the fact that the 食糧法 (Shokuryo Ho) was enacted in 1994 and put into effect in the following year (1995), which is oriented toward a free market, superceding the obsolete Shokkan How (Food Control Law). Because of the new law, more and more Japanese now buy rice at supermarkets instead of conventional rice stores, requiring rice stores to distinguish themselves from supermarkets.

***

Edited

I just put "mainly" after "stem".

Edited April 2, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[phaelon56]

It sounds almost as if some Japanese industry marketing team came up with a new scheme to create revenue and modeled it after computer networking "certifications'. Here in the US (not sure about other countries), there was once a time when being a CNE (Certified novell Engineer) carried some cachet and meant that the individual reaaly had a know;edge base mastery of a particular networkibg field and also the hands on experience to back it up. As the market became flooded with "paper CNE's (people who crammed for the test and had no tangible or worthwhile experience), the same cycel repeated itself with Micorsoft MCSE's and eventually even filtered into Cisco certification (admittedly, becoming a CCIE is still a mark of accomplishment).

The laughable part is this: the most progressive, technologically advanced firms with state of the art networks could care less if an applicant for a job has all the certifications. It's a nice bonus but it always, always, always boils down to what you know and what you can do. Mastery of a field is acquired over many years through a combination of experience and study. I see the rice "meister" program as being more realistic, especially if it raises the bar for training among the rice retailing community, but I can only laugh when I see the word "meister" and think back to all the Saturday Night Live "meister" skits.

[Hiroyuki]

Sorry - you still won't be satisfied because I'm neither a sommelier nor a meister - but I do share your disappointment - but just a pale shadow of your outrage! I was VERY excited to see your post title because I THOUGHT that there was such a serious qualification - BUT apparently there's NOT. But I do find it amusing that the meister certification fee includes lunch! As someone who's been a chef/owner, I feel totally comfortable with just being called a cook in the company of those from whom I'm now learning. Those titles - sommelier, meister, chef - have just been tossed around too much now with people with a few bucks spent on courses and tests. We've had this discussion before on the title of chef and it's been a heated one. It would be amazing to really learn from a rice master. I've just been starting to REALLY explore the world of rice - with the help of my friend/ex-roommate/fellow Cordon Bleu Grace - whose mom grew up in one of the premier rice regions in South Korea. Her family makes PILGRIMAGES there now JUST to eat the rice - well, that and maybe play a little golf. BUT I do eat some rice now and want to spit it out across the room - it tastes DEAD - like drinking a bouchone-ed wine - just horrible. Is there no real know rice master in the world? Surely there must be. If not there needs to be.

Thank you for your most courteous reply.

After reading all the replies in this thread including yours, of course, my outrage is just gone, like a charm.

I thought why I got so mad about all this, and all of a sudden, it came to light.

In 1992, when I came over to this sleepy little town, everything was new to me. I once had a conversation with a couple of middle-aged local women, and they said, "The rice grown in such and such a place is good, but the rice grown in such and such a place is bad." I was surprised that even in such a small town, good rice was grown in some places and bad rice in others, and these women knew this. I said surprisingly, "Wow, it's just like wine!" They agreed.

They are the sommeliers, and so are many of my townspeople.

Now I know the answer. I'm satisfied, and I'm happy with so many sommeliers around.

Thank you.

---

Still wanting more replies.

[Hiroyuki]

For those of you who wish to know the developments resulting in this new topic, "the rice sommelier", please go to the topic titled "koshihikari rice" in the "Japan" section from here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=38744

Thank you.

Edited April 3, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[Hiroyuki]

BUT I do eat some rice now and want to spit it out across the room - it tastes DEAD - like drinking a bouchone-ed wine - just horrible.

Somehow, someway, that particular sentence of yours lingers on, especially the expression, "it tastes DEAD"; what a direct expression!

I once had just the opposite experience: An acquaintance in Shiozawa town gave me some Shiozawa Koshihikari rice. I cooked it, nice and hot, and I took a mouthful of it with my chopsticks. As I munched, I felt the power of the rice. It asserted itself.

Forgive me for saying this, because I just have to say this:

If you really are to explore the world of rice, allow me to suggest putting Koshihikari rice, especially Uonuma-san Koshihikari rice, on the top of your list.

Edited April 7, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[Hiroyuki]

Do you know palatability analyzers?

For those of you who have never heard of those high-tech gadgets, let me explain them briefly.

A palatability analyzer, or a rice analyzer, is capable of evaluating certain grains of rice on a 100-point scale.

Example of a palatability analyzer:

http://www.yanmar.co.jp/products/agri/nouk...seihin/0603.htm

(Japanese)

And, here are rice palatability criteria:

Rank Score 　　　　Description

S 　　90 or greater 　Choicest

A 　　80 or greater 　Good

B 　　70 or greater 　So-so

C 　　60 or greater 　Other

According to a palatability analyzer,

Kokuho Rose: 71

Calrose: 64

Thai jasmine rice: 63

Australian rice: 59

Information source:

http://www.genmaiya.co.jp/htm/syokumi.htm

(Note: I'm not saying that these varieties of rice are inferior. Palatability analyzers evaluate rice grains in accordance with Japanese standards. Japanese prefer short-grain sticky rice.)

I currently eat Shiozawa-san Koshihikari rice with a score of 95. It's really good, but I sometimes think that it's too good to be eaten on a regular basis. And, it's certainly bad for my health, because I can eat three bowls a meal simply because it's tasty.

[Hiroyuki]

Today, I sent an email message to

米・食味鑑定士協会

Kome Shokumi Kanteishi Kyokai

(The Rice-based Diet Taste Surveyor Society)

http://www.syokumikanteisi.gr.jp/index.htm

about this thread of this international forum on food.

I hope that they will think twice about the use of the word "sommelier" and make me feel better.

[Hiroyuki]

I received a reply from the Society on April 20. The main point of their reply was, as I interpreted it, that "it's up to each and every rice sommelier". I found their remarks off-putting. The Society has no obligation? I thought of writing them another email, but stopped it. No more haggling over this silly thing called rice sommelier.

As far as I am concerned, this thread is DEAD.

Thanks.

[torakris]

I know you just said this thread was dead, but I just ran across this today:

http://store.yahoo.co.jp/organic/veggie-sommelier.html

that's right this company is using the name vegetable sommelier....

I haven't looked into this but I don't think it is an official title, but still....

[Hiroyuki]

If you say so...

I found the the vegetable & fruit meister:

http://www.vege-fru.com/association.html