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Japan Times
3 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Japan Times
Waves of umami: Awaji Island's culinary trove
Lifting the lid off a large ceramic pot with a flourish to reveal his aged shoyu, chef Nobuaki Fushiki tells me that with soy sauce, 'taste is born with time.' As the distinctive aroma of umami wafts into the air at Zenbo Seinei — a Zen wellness retreat designed by Shigeru Ban and located in the north of Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture — I'm instructed to place a dash of the rich brown liquid on a small plate. Most of the 20 members of my group, who hail from North America, Europe and Oceania, are joining a soy sauce tasting for the first time, inspired by their introduction to Japanese cuisine onboard the Silver Nova, one of the newest ships from luxury cruise line Silversea Cruises. The Silver Nova, which has a passenger capacity of 728 guests, made its debut voyage in the Asia-Pacific region last September. After sailing from Hokkaido, the ship undertook two voyages in Asia before heading southwards to Australia and New Zealand. It returned to Japan last month. The vessel held its inaugural Sea and Land Taste (SALT) — an immersive culinary program that lets guests experience a destination's cultural identity — in the Asia-Pacific region, which included SALT shore excursions in Japan for the first time. The Silver Nova is one of the newest vessels from Silversea Cruises. | SILVERSEA CRUISES Launched in Greece in 2021, SALT has proved immensely popular among passengers, prompting its expansion from the Mediterranean to voyages that include the Caribbean and South America, before its launch in Japan. Gourmet programs from cruises are, of course, not new. Most international cruises to Japan tend to feature onboard themed dinners featuring regional produce or work with local tour operators to bring passengers for short gourmet jaunts onshore. With the increasing demand globally for more immersive gourmet experiences in travel, a few cruises are now offering culinary tours that take on a more authentic vibe. Princess Cruises, for example, offers a visit to the Yamada miso and soy sauce brewery in Niigata Prefecture. Silversea's SALT program places a heightened emphasis on regional food and its ties to local identity, as well as hands-on experiences for its guests. Its onshore SALT Excursions are designed to offer insights into traditional cooking methods and local ingredients. For example, in Tasmania, passengers had the opportunity to forage local produce with renowned chef Analiese Gregory followed by a lunch with Tasmanian wines. In Napier, New Zealand, guests were taken to the award-winning Craggy Range winery for a private tour, wine-tasting and a five-course meal at the winery's restaurant. On Greece's Mykonos island, turophiles got the opportunity to make Kopanisti at cheese producer Mykonos Farmers. 'The nature of SALT is that it's constantly evolving,' says Adam Sachs, the program's director. 'We're passionate about food and drink and created SALT to share the best of food culture with like-minded guests hungry for truly authentic and memorable culinary experiences.' A staff member at Zenbo Seinei prepares condiments made from soy sauce for lunch. | KATHRYN WORTLEY From Osaka, where the Silver Nova is docked, our shore excursion takes us by bus to Awaji Island, the largest island of the Seto Inland Sea. It includes a fermentation workshop and an eight-course lunch led by Zenbo Seinei's Fushiki, as well as a farm-to-table experience. Bert Hernandez, president of Silversea, says the tour lets guests discover 'the soul of a place through its food and culture.' In this case, the focus is on learning about the building blocks of umami. Umami is a key flavor component in fermented food, which is central to Japanese cooking. For Fushiki, an expert in fermented cuisine, fermented foods not only enhance a meal's flavor and nutritional value but also play an integral role in Japan's culinary identity. At the fermentation workshop, we are introduced to the role of fermentation in a wide range of Japanese condiments, such as soy sauce, miso, mirin and rice vinegar, as well as items like nattō (fermented soybeans) and tsukemono (pickled vegetables). 'Some soy sauces in the supermarket today have been made within months, but my variety has taken me more than six years to brew,' says Fushiki, who uses traditional techniques such as using kōji mold and brine fermentation in the moromi (fermentation mash) to create a soy sauce with depth and complexity. Chef Nobuaki Fushiki of Zenbo Seinei is an expert in fermented cuisine. | KATHRYN WORTLEY Fushiki's six-year-aged soy sauce is served with his Taste of Awaji menu, which takes his team of chefs at Zenbo Seinei a week to prepare. Showcasing the best of the island's produce, from the mountains, sea and farmland, the menu is a fitting introduction to Japanese cuisine as Awaji is recognized in mythology as the birthplace of Japan, he says. According to Japan's earliest written works, the 'Kojiki' ('Records of Ancient Matters') and 'Nihon Shoki' ('The Chronicles of Japan'), the island was the first landmass to be formed during a ceremony carried out by the deities Izanagi and Izanami. Awaji is also known as one of only three miketsukuni (provinces of royal provisions) that supplied food to the imperial court in Kyoto during the Heian Period (794–1185). The island was chosen for its exceptional bounty of agricultural and marine products, which established it as a center for Japanese culinary excellence, a reputation that continues to this day. Fushiki's eight courses reflect this long and rich heritage. The Power of Awaji features Awaji beef fermented with maitake and kōji and finished on a charcoal grill, while 'The History of Japan' comprises Awaji swordfish served on a savory egg custard made with 10 kinds of local vegetables and dashi infused with bonito and kelp. The Ocean of Awaji is a nod to the rich variety of seafood found around the island's rocky and sandy shores. Small parcels of fresh spring green vegetables are wrapped in various kinds of fermented and dried fish alongside green tiger prawn boiled in local sea water. A fine bed of crushed pine nuts, white sesame and shio-kōji (salted kōji) embodies a beach, while an accompaniment of a dashi foam represents ocean waves. Chef Fushiki's The Ocean of Awaji dish is a homage to the rich seafood found around the island. | KATHRYN WORTLEY Great care is also taken to introduce drink pairings with complementary Japanese flavors. The Awaji beef is accompanied with a choice of a Japanese wine made from yamabudō, a wild Japanese grape variety known for its acidity and dark hue, or a mocktail featuring grapes and beetroot, milk-washed or clarified with lemon. The swordfish is served with tea made from herbs and dried shiso (perilla), a popular ingredient in Japanese cuisine, while the ocean course is paired with a tea made from Japanese butterbur, a perennial herb native to East Asia. The alcohol option for both fish dishes is sake, including Regulus, a brew from the award-winning Niigata Prefecture-based Abe Shuzo. After a dessert that includes sweet miso-marinated strawberries with sanshō pepper-infused cream and matcha served with mochi, I visit one of the sources of Zenbo Seinei's fruits and vegetables: Awaji Nature Lab & Resort. Located nearby, the 38,000-square-meter facility grows some 30 crops annually using circular farming, a sustainable practice that minimizes waste by treating byproducts as resources. Farmers make compost using leaf litter, rice bran and manure, changing the composition throughout the seasons to maximize the quality of the fruits and vegetables produced. Such a rare look into a sustainable agricultural practice offers guests a greater appreciation of Awaji's rich bounty. Silver Nova returns to Japan in March 2026, with SALT excursions to Zenbo Seinei and Aomori Prefecture; Silver Moon, another vessel, will arrive in Japan in October 2025, with SALT excursions to Zenbo Seinei and Fukuoka Prefecture.
eNCA
09-05-2025
- Business
- eNCA
Mining company bands with cruiseliner to tackle youth unemployment
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa continues to grapple with staggering youth unemployment levels, which have gone up by nearly 10% in the past decade. Approximately 45.5% of youth are currently out of a job. But big business is doing its part to help. READ | Workers' Day | Many willing workers, not enough jobs Anglo American, through its Zimele initiative, has joined forces with Silversea Cruises. They've created a programme designed to offer job opportunities in the hospitality and tourism industries, equipping participants with valuable skills and a professional network.
Forbes
02-05-2025
- Forbes
Finding Authenticity And Identity On A Silversea Cruise To Rhodes
Cruise ship Silver Spirit (Silversea Cruises) at Gibraltar Cruise Terminal. On an all-too-brief Aegean cruise on the Silversea Silver Spirit, our ship stopped at the Isle of Rhodes. I expected to spend the day on an excursion on the island. Perhaps we would also do some sightseeing, shopping, learn some history and soak up a bit of the local flavor like olive oil on our bread. I did not expect a pair of profound experiences in authenticity and identity, one at the Rhodian Pottery Workshop excursion, the other at the last surviving synagogue in Rhodes. I knew little about the island save references to the legendary Colossus of Rhodes, the 105 foot copper statue. But Rhodes was once a powerful maritime power in the Eastern Mediterranean, during the Hellenistic Period from 400 to 200 BC. The 'jewel of the Aegean' has since been ruled by Romans, Ottomans, Türkiye, Italians, and others, including the Nazis from 1943 to 1945. It was returned to Greece in 1947. For the Pottery Workshop, we debarked from the Silver Spirit and got on a waiting van with intrepid driver and guide. Our English-speaking twelve included young, middle-aged, and seniors, and a family with a boy and girl under 12. We departed the port of Rhodes and headed to the north side of the island. We enjoyed the panoramic views of the Rhodian countryside and the sea on the drive to the ceramics studio. East Greek (Rhodian) oinochoe, Wild Goat style, 630-600 BC. East Greek pottery oinochoe (wine-jug); ... More shoulder: griffin between two goats; belly: four goats with a water-bird beneath the handle; the neck has a cable pattern, and around the bottom is a pattern of lotus buds and flowers; Middle Wild Goat style. Dimensions: height: 33 cmdiameter: 20 cm (Photo by Ashmolean Museum/) Our tour guide to Rhodes was voluble, but knowledgeable, with thirty years of guiding experience. He told us to call him 'Lefty' as his name seemed unpronounceable to generations of tourists. On our way to our destination, he told us about the history of the island. The famed bronze Colossus of Rhodes, considered one of the wonders of the ancient worlds, lasted just 66 years before it was destroyed by an earthquake. Although it captured the imagination of poets .and artists, no trace of the statue has yet been found. Lefty's lecture was interesting and entertaining if a bit heavy on marriage jokes. But he was quite serious about the steep decline in the number of local families focused on pottery. Much of the culture of the island has been documented in its pottery and ceramics, which goes back to pre-historic times, including a cultural peak in the 20th century. However, Lefty despairingly put it, 'Everything is plastic today.' The number of families focused on pottery has declined from dozens to five today. Nonetheless, when we arrived the pottery studio seemed an impressive operation, with hundreds of items on display or for sale. The family owners taught us about the techniques of pottery making, demonstrating on the pottery wheel, and about Rhodes' long tradition of producing ceramics. Potter sculpting a decorative plate at a pottery workshop in the village of Akotiri on Santorini ... More Island, Greece. (Photo by Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images) We drank shots of ouzo while waiting our turns at the wheel, downing Greek olives and bread as well. Looking at the pottery for sales with Greek themes (the gods, rams and bulls, ancient ships, etc.), I felt transported back in time. Then it was our turn at the wheel. We had signed up to make cups, bowls and, for the most daring, a curvy vase. While the master potter did much of the work, it was exhilarating to put hands on (or thumbs down into) the spinning lump of clay, which within minutes we transformed into pottery. We paid an extra twenty euro for our cup and bowl to be fired and glazed with colors. I felt connected to the past, making my own version of an ancient design. For the adults but especially for the children in our group, getting hands-on to make an everyday item like the Greeks had done for thousands of years was memorable indeed. We returned to the town, full of shopkeepers and restaurateurs trying to pull us into their establishments. Lefty had told us about the town's only surviving synagogue, which we found up a narrow alley. There were once six synagogues and prayer halls in the Jewish Quarter, known as 'La Juderia.' Now Kahal Shalom is the sole remaining synagogue on Rhodes used for services. The synagogue was built in 1577, making it the oldest surviving synagogue in Greece, although the first Jews arrived as early as the 12th century. Kahal Shalom Synagogue in Rhodes, Greece.(Photo by Hoberman Collection/Universal Images Group via ... More Getty Images) Rhodes was part of the great tragedy of the Jews of Greece. Kahal Shalom is today both a synagogue and museum. While at one time as many as 6,000 Jews lived on Rhodes, 1900 lived there in 1943. Less than 200 survived the Holocaust. Over 67,000 Greek Jews, 87% of the Jewish population of Greece, were murdered in the Holocaust. (Some 500,000 non-Jewish Greeks also died in World War II.) Few survived from Rhodes, and according to the woman taking tickets, just fifteen Jews are members of the synagogue today. Getting a minyan of ten men to pray together is difficult and happens rarely. Rhodes was for hundreds of years home to a thriving Jewish community, of first Romaniote and then Sephardic Jews after the 1492 expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal. I went through the museum, staring at photos of their faces and their beautiful clothing. As I glumly contemplated whether Europe was entirely a graveyard today, a short 30-ish man with short hair and wrap-around sunglasses ran in. 'Any Jewish men here?' he shouted excitedly in an Israeli accent. 'You want to do a minyan?' I said. 'Let's do it.' Bimah and interior of the Kahal Shalom Synagogue build in sephardic style from 1577 and the oldest ... More in Greece, Rhodes Town,Rhodes, Greece I was the tenth man, joining nine others, mostly young but a couple not so much, to pray together in the empty synagogue. A young man stood on the pulpit, in the center of the synagogue and read the prayers aloud from his cellphone. Cruise ships are often portrayed as the ultimate in material and sybaritic pleasures. Indeed, there is something glorious about exquisite meals, fine wines, convivial gambling as I found on the Silversea Silver Spirit, a visit to the spa, perhaps a cigar. Yet cruise ships often offer a nod towards the spiritual, whether it be traditional religious services on board, meditation, yoga, or simply the contemplation of a majestic glacier or ocean sunset. On one day in Rhodes, our group of cruisers filled buildings with renewed life and delight. Our Silversea cruise quite literally took us to places we never thought we'd go. A hand-colored engraving of the Colossus of Rhodes, on of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.
USA Today
13-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Silversea, Oceania reveal months-long world cruises in 2027, 2028
AI-assisted summary Silversea Cruises and Oceania Cruises announced new world cruises with itineraries lasting over 100 days. Silversea's 132-day cruise will visit 29 countries and Oceania's 180-day cruise will visit 46 countries. Both cruises depart from Miami in January of 2027 and 2028, respectively. Prices for both cruises start at over $70,000 per person. Two upscale cruise lines announced globe-spanning cruises this week, each visiting dozens of countries. Silversea Cruises revealed the details of its 2028 World Cruise on Thursday, which will visit 29 countries over 132 days. 'Our 2028 World Cruise, An Ode to the Moment, is designed to slow time, offering deeper exploration of each destination,' Bert Hernandez, the line's president, said in a news release. 'With our unrivaled destination expertise, we guide guests to both iconic landmarks and hidden gems, ensuring they experience the world at its finest.' Oceania Cruises also announced a lengthy new itinerary on Wednesday, with its 2027 Around the World cruise scheduled to sail for 180 days with stops in 46 countries. 'Spanning six months at sea, this extraordinary voyage offers the rare opportunity to circumnavigate the globe while seamlessly connecting diverse continents, rich cultures, and authentic cuisines, creating an unforgettable experience for our guests,' Jason Montague, the line's Chief Luxury Officer, said in a separate release. Here's what to know about the itineraries. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. When are Silversea and Oceania's new world cruises? Silversea's cruise will depart from Miami on Jan. 5, 2028, on the line's 392-guest Silver Shadow ship. Oceania's sailing will also begin in Miami on Jan. 6, 2027, aboard Oceania Vista, which can accommodate 1,200 passengers at double occupancy. What is a world cruise? What's included, when to book and more Where will the cruises go? Silversea's itinerary will be divided into nine chapters, beginning with a deep exploration of the Caribbean en route to Cartagena, Colombia, followed by visits to the Panama Canal, Rio de Janeiro for Carnival, Mauritius, Abu Dhabi and more. Passengers will stop in 58 destinations in total, with 17 overnight stays, and can partake in activities like a Columbian Coffee Workshop and an exclusive evening of cuisine, music and dancing at Peru's Pedro de Osma Museum. The cruise will end in Nice, France. Oceania's cruise will also explore the Caribbean and make its way to the Panama Canal, 'island-hop' from Hawaii to Fiji, per the line's release, and transit along the coast of Australia to cities like Sydney, Cairns and Darwin. Guests will also spend over two months in Asia sailing around Thailand, Japan and more. Shore excursions for small groups, onboard art classes and more will be on offer, as well. Guests will disembark in London (they can also choose from longer 244-day and shorter 127-day options). How much do the cruises cost? Silversea's cruise currently starts at $74,900 per guest, based on double occupancy. Oceania's 180-day itinerary currently starts at $76,199 per person, based on double occupancy. Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@
Telegraph
09-03-2025
- Telegraph
Why the Chilean fjords are South America's greatest overlooked treasure
Stretching for nearly 1,000 miles towards South America's tip lies an intricate network of waterways, chiselled into the continent's western flank by the relentless creep of glaciers from the Andes mountains. These are the Chilean fjords, a breathtaking wilderness of deep gorges, intertwining channels and soaring mountains where the rolling pampas grasslands of Tierra del Fuego succumb to the Patagonian ice fields and majesty of the Pacific Ocean. In 1520, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to navigate these inlets, threading along Chile's southern coast during an expedition financed by Spanish king Charles V to seek out the Indonesian Spice Islands. His discovery of a 350-mile navigable sea route carving through Chile and Argentina, now named the Strait of Magellan in his honour, bestowed mariners with a more secure passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that avoided the treacherous waters around Cape Horn. It proved to be an invaluable route before being superseded by the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. This new short-cut slashed South American sea traffic at a swoop, plunging previously prosperous ports into decline, though recent years have provided a welcome fillip with cruise ships visiting in increasing numbers. I'm aboard one of them, arriving in rather more luxury than Magellan and his crew amid the rarefied confines of Silver Ray. One of the opulent ships of six star line Silversea Cruises, it holds just 728 passengers, its compact size enabling it to negotiate the sinuous lines of these challenging narrows. As we sail into them, I'm intrigued as well as curious, because what is South America's answer to the Norwegian fjords remains largely unknown and shrouded in mystery due to its remote location and notoriously unpredictable moods, with forceful winds whipping up ferocious squalls in the blink of an eye. First impressions are not promising as gloomy skies and heavy mist dampen the impact of the fjords – which, it must be said, lack the vertiginous majesty of their Norwegian counterparts. Having also sailed the ice-speckled waters of Greenland and Alaska, I can't help feeling underwhelmed. But as Silver Ray continues to pick its way southwards, the terrain takes on a more dramatic turn as we inch towards the Garibaldi Glacier, regarded as one of the country's most beautiful icy wonders. Cliffs rise up from limpid waters, resembling granite pillars and threaded with ivory streaks of waterfalls, the sound of gushing meltwater competing with the guttural grunts of seals splayed like drunken sailors on chunks of ice bobbing past. A fluctuating swirl of blue skies and rain showers simultaneously drenches snow-topped peaks in sunshine while shrouding others in swirling mist, laying the seeds for an incredible shimmer of rainbows that arch up from the sea in a multi-coloured swathe. As we slip at snail's pace around a bend, ahead of us lies an unyielding wall of roughly-hewn ice stretching half a mile across the head of the Garibaldi Fjord, the craggy cliff face reaching up nearly 200ft. This is the Chilean fjords' king of glaciers, marked out by its striking blueish hue and epic dimensions, but it's not alone because across the Andes are estimated to be around 5,500 of these icy giants. There are several in close proximity, including the appropriately-named Glacier Alley, or Avenue of Glaciers, where a quintet of tidal ice floes, each one named after a European country, is tumbling at glacial speed into the sea. It's an arresting sight but, for me, what marks these fjords out is their isolation and unshakeable feeling of being so far from civilisation. During the two days we spend cruising through these labyrinthine channels we are totally alone. There are no other ships and no settlements, but it's hardly surprising when you consider this area covers nearly 150,000 square miles, making it 50 per cent larger than the UK. Yet with fewer than 100,000 people living here, it is the most sparsely populated region of Chile. The hand of history hovers over this coastline, bringing a fascinating dimension as we cruise southwards from the Strait of Magellan, following the route taken by British naval officer Robert FitzRoy in 1831 at the helm of his ship HMS Beagle who effectively paved our way. While steering through the maze of islands and passages of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, FitzRoy discovered another passageway linking both oceans, that became known as the Beagle Channel, now used by today's cruise ships to reach the notorious Drake Passage and Antarctica beyond. A short time after its discovery, the Beagle returned on an epic voyage with none other than young scientist Charles Darwin, who spent 15 months on the Chilean coastline enthusiastically gathering specimens that formed the basis of his seminal theory of evolution, contained in his ground-breaking work The Origin of Species. While noting the Beagle Channel as the most impressive geological feature in the region, he was in awe of the fjords, writing: 'It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more beautiful than the beryl-like blue of these glaciers.' Exploring them on Silver Ray proves to be the perfect foil to this inhospitable environment with its spacious uber-chic interiors and outdoor deck spaces, champagne on tap, and swish suites served by a legion of attentive butlers. This is a ship that never feels crowded, and dining in style is de rigueur, especially with eight restaurants serving everything from French gourmet fare to Mediterranean and Japanese cuisine and the sultry surroundings of the popular Silver Note supper club. One of my favourites is the excellent Salt Kitchen and its ever-changing menus, reflecting local flavours, where I try Chilean empanadas, creamy crab ravioli, and spicy Peruvian duck ceviche. Another triumph is the outdoor Marquee restaurant, a must for lunch with tasty poke bowls and pizzas, beautifully illuminated after dark, where an evening dining highlight is the on-table Hot Rock barbecue, where I cook my steak on a sizzling hot lava stone. The numerous sea days on this cruise blend into a social haze that gravitates between excellent talks in the main theatre, an ever-competitive daily trivia quiz and, on warmer days, lounging on one of the plentiful sunbeds around a pool that's always an oasis of calm. I joined Silver Ray in Lima for this 20-night passage to Buenos Aires as part of the full 71-day South American voyage, which 188 guests signed up for. While wealthy and mainly retired Americans make up most of the guests, Britons are well represented as the second-largest group. On leaving Peru, we follow the Chilean coast to its southernmost city Punta Arenas, which has the frontier-like feel of a settlement at the end of the earth. It's no mean feat as Chile is one of the world's longest countries stretching for nearly 2,700 miles – which in Europe would see it reach from the top of Norway as far south as Morocco. Over such a distance, we don't only encounter port cities, such as Valparaiso, that are bursting with history, but the snow-capped peaks of the Chilean Lake District near Puerto Montt, with its surprising German roots and fresh Alpine feel. From the sultry 30C heat of northern Chile, to the bitter winds of freezing Patagonia, and Argentinian outpost of Ushuaia, this voyage truly blows hot and cold. Yet our final evening turns up the heat, amid the drama of a steamy tango performance in the city where it was born, Buenos Aires – a sizzling finale to a journey deep into South America's most underrated corners. Essentials Sara Macefield was a guest of Silversea Cruises (0844 251 0837; which offers an 18-day Buenos Aires to Valparaiso voyage from £9,900pp, excluding flights. Calling at the Falkland Islands, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas and the Chilean fjords and Garibaldi Glacier. Departs Feb 26, 2026.
