By Kendra Evans
After we went cherry picking, we were very
kindly invited by Mr Ono to visit Happy Park, an NPO and the center for fruit industry in
Minami Alps City. Happy Park has fruit tours, competitions, events, and
activities, as well as a restaurant, souvenir shop, and a farmer’s market. If
you’re interested in learning or eating more fruit, this is the place to come.
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| © Yamanashi Tourism Organization |
Mr Ono showed us the shop and the
restaurant first. For lunch, the restaurant opens at 11, but there are already
people lining up and waiting from 10.30 or even earlier! He then showed us the
field. At Happy Park on the 11th June, a Cherry Festival was held,
and on the field, they had a Cherry Seed Spitting Competition, to see how far
people could spit their seeds! Happy Park regularly holds community events and
activities like this, and it sounds like a lot of fun!
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| How far could you spit a cherry seed? |
Then, we were shown one of the main
features of Happy Park – the jam-making rooms. Ono Youran Kajuen is famous for
its fruit jams – it has even won a British award for its marmalade! Here at
Happy Park, Mr Ono makes his jams – as well as jams for other orchards and
fruit farms. Often fruit that is a strange shape or slightly bruised cannot be
sold to stores, or won’t be picked by visitors who come for fruit picking. So
it does not go to waste, many farms will send these ugly fruit to Happy Park,
where Mr Ono and his team will make them into jam, which can then be sold at
the farm where the fruit was grown. It is a brilliant idea, and a great way to
save on food waste.
Also, as part of the travel tours they have
at Happy Park, tourists can also come and make their very own jam. We were
kindly given the chance by Mr Ono to try making our very own cherry jam, and we
were very excited to try!
First, we had to pluck the stems and remove
the seeds from the fruit. We had special tools to punch the seeds out of the cherries;
otherwise I’m sure it would have taken a very long time! Then, we put the fruit
into a large pan over heat, without peeling or boiling or changing the fruit in
any way. After we stirred it for a while, Mr Ono added some sugar, and a small
amount of yuzu puree. Usually for jam, lemon puree is added, but lemons are not
grown in Yamanashi, and the mission of Happy Park is to promote local agriculture,
so Yamanashi Yuzu is used instead. I prefer yuzu anyway – much tastier! Once
the fruit has broken down and is simmering, the heat is turned off, and we got
ready to put the mixture in jars. It already smelt delicious!
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| Getting ready |
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| Perfect seedless cherries |
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| Heating up the fruit |
We had a short training session in how to
seal the jars. They are already cleaned and soaked in hot water to neutralize
any bacteria, but if the lid is not closed correctly, too much air or bacteria
can get into the jam and contaminate it, so it is very important to close it
correctly. We used twist cap jars, and the technique Mr Ono taught us was to
place the lid on top of the jar, twist it backwards
for two clicks, to hear the twist parts hitting against each other, and then
close the jar. That way, you can be sure there is no air between the lid and
the jar. Once we were sure we had the hang of it, we poured the mix into our
jars, sealed them successfully (I think!) and then put them in a hot water bath
for thirty minutes.
While we were waiting, we tried some of Mr
Ono’s most popular jams. His way of making produces a jam that you can eat with
your toast, but also mix with hot water to make a refreshing drink. We tried
his peach flower, yuzu and golden olive blossom jams to drink, and they tasted amazing; sweet,
but not too sickly, and with a strong fruity flavour. We also tried some shaved
ice, from a machine Mr Ono has used during summers at Happy Park for several
decades! We poured some of the fruit syrup made at Happy Park on our home-made
dessert. Delicious!
After making our
jam, we went for lunch at the Happy Park restaurant. It was very popular – the
line for seats was quite long! The menu for the
day was Cheese Curry, full of vegetables. It was very fresh and rich with
flavours. The taste was slightly different from the usual curry – sweeter, with
a little acidity – which made me wonder if they use fruit in the curry making.
I will have to go again to find out! We also had a soft serve ice cream dessert
afterwards – with a cherry on top! Very delicious.
The atmosphere in
the restaurant was one of high quality. There is a lot of wooden rustic style
furniture, and the large window in the main room gives a lovely view of the
park and mountains surrounding Minami-Alps City. If there are any events going
on, you probably have an excellent view.
Before we left, we
picked up our jam. I have been eating it for breakfast these past few days, and
it is delicious – especially because we made it ourselves! This is a great day
out that I would definitely recommend!
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