A&M
「食」を通して繋がる日。
家庭菜園や観葉植物がお好きでご自宅でたくさん育てていらっしゃる優しさ溢れる新郎様。そんな新郎様のお隣にそっと寄り添う穏やかでいつも素敵な気配りをしてくださる新婦様。 お二人の結婚の日は、様々な「食」を通して、たいせつなご家族とご友人、そして私たちMAYAスタッフがお二人と繋がることができた、そんな3日間でした。
結婚の日 1日目。
「それぞれの家庭の味をみんなで味わいたい。」 そんな想いから、この日の夕食は外食ではなくMAYAのキッチンを囲んでお料理されることを選ばれたお二人。 メインのお料理は、新郎様が幼い頃よく食卓に並んでいた想い出の「とり天」、そして新婦様はひじきの煮物を天ぷらにする、通称「気まぐれひじき」を作ることになりました。 普段、ご家庭で作られている際の具材や調味料をお二人や親御様から事前に伺うことからはじまったお打ち合わせでは、ご自身の小さい頃の想い出を振り返りながら、楽しそうに話してくれたことがとても印象に残っています。 副菜は、MAYAのシェフへお任せいただきました。 それぞれのご家庭の味を邪魔しない副菜は何か、スタッフ一同随分と悩みましたが、鎌倉野菜７種の煮浸しと白和え。それに加えて、お汁とおつまみ、デザートには抹茶アイスをご準備いたしました。 長年、ご両家それぞれの食卓に並んでいた「とり天」と「気まぐれひじき」が両家の間の家となるこの「間家」で一つの食卓に並ぶ、結婚の日らしい団欒の時間でした。
結婚の日 ２日目。
ご家族、ご友人を招いた賑やかなハレの日には、ケーキカットに代わる私たちらしい、MAYAらしいセレモニーをしたい。そう仰ってくれたお二人と考え、辿り着いた「卵焼きセレモニー」。 「家で過ごす結婚の日だからこそ、家庭の味を想い出すような”卵焼き”を作りたい」 そんなお二人の想いを実現するため、MAYAのシェフだけではなく、MAYAのサービスやホテルスタッフを巻き込み、”あなたのお家の卵焼き”を聞いてまわったことは、私たちの中でもとても微笑ましい想い出です。 出汁巻きなのか、甘い卵焼きなのか、もしくは具材が入っているのかなど、何度も試作と試食を重ねた結果、一番シンプルな「だし巻き」をご準備することとなりました。 卵焼きタワーを目の前にしたゲストの皆さまはとても驚かれた様子でしたが、微笑みながらたくさんお写真を撮られていらっしゃいました。 セレモニー後には、ゲスト全員のテーブルに卵焼きをご提供し、皆さまそれぞれのご家庭の味を話しながら召し上がって下さいました。 お子様ゲストもたくさん参加されたお二人のご披露宴では、7月という夏の季節にあわせ、MAYAの裏庭の井戸を使って行う「流し素麺」を行いました。 お子様ゲストを裏庭にお迎えし、お二人が楽しそうにお子様に声をかけながら素麺を流す姿は、まるでお家で過ごす夏休みのような光景でした。 大人ゲストの方には、生姜、茗荷、ごま油、鰹節、大根おろし、長ネギ、大葉、刻み海苔など8種類の薬味をご用意して行った薬味ブッフェ。お子様から大人の方まで皆さまが賑わう瞬間となりました。
結婚の日 ３日目。
前日の賑わいも静まり、お二人きりで過ごす家の中。朝食後のお二人を覗きに行くと、何をすることもなく、ただお二人寄り添いながら、椅子に腰掛けお庭を眺めていらっしゃいました。 お土産でお渡しした、たくさんの鎌倉野菜。 「食」を通して様々な繋がりを感じさせてくれたお二人には、是非色鮮やかな鎌倉野菜をお持ち帰りいただきたいとスタッフみんなで相談をして選んだMAYAからのささやかなお土産です。 「新鮮で彩りも良く、美味しく頂きました。帰ってきた後も鎌倉を感じられて嬉しいです。」 そんな言葉を残してくれたお二人のことを想うと今もあたたかい気持ちになります。
Days in which People are Connected Through Food.
The bridegroom likes a kitchen garden and houseplants and grows a lot of plants at his home, and he is full of kindness. The bride stays quietly at his side, is gentle, and is always wonderfully considerate to us. On the couple’s wedding days, their beloved family members and friends and we, the staff members at MAYA, were able to be connected with the couple through various foods. Such were the three days.
The First Wedding Day.
“We want to enjoy each other’s home cooking with everyone.” Because of that wish, the couple chose not to go out for dinner on this day but to cook dinner in MAYA’s kitchen. For the main dishes, they would make chicken tempura, which the bridegroom remembered was often on the dining table when he was very young, and a dish the bride knew as “whimsical hijiki seaweed,” in which boiled hijiki seaweed is made into tempura. We had a preparatory meeting after we heard from the couple and their parents beforehand about the ingredients and seasonings they used when they ordinarily made meals at home. At the meeting, the couple happily told us about those ingredients and seasonings while looking back on the memories of those days when they were children, thus making quite a lasting impression on us. The couple entrusted MAYA’s chefs with the side dishes. All of us staff members were really worried about what the side dishes should be that would go well with each family’s home cooking. We prepared a stew and salad with seven types of Kamakura vegetables. In addition, we made soup and appetizers available. For dessert, we arranged for matcha green tea ice cream. Chicken tempura and whimsical hijiki seaweed, which had been on the respective tables of the two families for many years, were now on one table for this “midpoint family,” which would be one family between both families during a harmonious time like a wedding day.
The Second Wedding Day.
The couple said they invited family and friends to their bustling big day. Instead of a cake-cutting ceremony, they said they wanted to hold a ceremony on this day that would seem like them and seem like MAYA. Thinking about this with the couple, we came up with the idea of holding an omelet ceremony. The couple’s wish was that “Because a wedding day is spent with family, we want to make omelets, which will remind us of our home cooking.” Turning the couple’s wish into reality would involve not only MAYA’s chefs but also MAYA’s service and hotel staff. Thus, word of the couple’s family omelets made the rounds, we all heard of it, and it became a very heartwarming memory for us, too. We experimented with and sampled different omelets many times, wondering whether to prepare, for example, a rolled Japanese-style omelet, a sweet rolled omelet, or an omelet with a filling. The result was to prepare the simplest one, the rolled Japanese-style omelet. All the guests appeared very surprised at the rolled omelet tower placed before their eyes. They smiled while taking many pictures of it. After that ceremony, we served the rolled omelets to all the guests at their tables, and everyone ate them while talking about their own home cooking. Many guests who happened to be children attended the couple’s reception. So at the reception, we held a “nagashi somen (flowing noodles)” event in keeping with the summer season, specifically, July. We held the event by using a well in MAYA’s backyard. The guests who were children went out to the backyard. The couple happily called out to them while letting the somen noodles flow. That sight was like a summer vacation spent with one’s family. We held a condiment buffet for the guests who happened to be adults. We prepared eight types of condiments, comprising ginger, Japanese ginger, sesame oil, dried bonito, grated daikon radish, green onions, perilla, and shredded seaweed. The moment was bustling with everyone, from the children to the adults.
The Third Wedding Day.
The activity from the previous day had quieted down, and the couple was spending time alone in the house. When we went to see the couple after their breakfast, they were not really doing anything except sitting in their chairs and looking at the yard while snuggling up against each other. We gave them a lot of Kamakura vegetables for souvenirs. The couple allowed us to experience all sorts of connections through food. Thus, we, the staff members, had a discussion together and chose colorful Kamakura vegetables for the couple to definitely take home as little souvenirs from MAYA. “Everything was fresh, had good color, and was delicious. Even after we go home, we will be happy that we could experience Kamakura.” That was the last thing they said to us. Even now, it warms our hearts when we think about this couple.
Season
2023年 初夏
