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This is from an interview I conducted with Miho Hatori, the front woman for one of my all time favorite bands, Cibo Matto, and Grammy winner for her collaboration in the group The Gorrillaz.

Cibo Matto (translation: food madness) had fervent, quirky songs punctuated with lines like “don’t give me chase, I’m at St. Mark’s Place: feeling stromboli, not ravioli.” Let’s just say that track, Sci-Fi Wasabi, was the first rap song that ever made my mouth water.

So it was no surprise that Hatori would have a lot to say about food. But after just a few minutes, I realized those lyrics just scratched the surface of how deeply her experiences with food affected her life and art.
 

 
You were recently on tour in Brazil. What were your favorite food discoveries from the trip?  They eat a thing called farofa. Its my favorite, but very hard to find in New York. Some people put onion in it, some people put eggs, some people put chives. Every household has a different preparation style. I was staying at a friend’s house in Rio, so I got to eat some typical Brazilian home cooking, like oxtail stew with watercress. The beef tastes so good over there. It was very tender. 

You travel quite a bit.  When you get to a new place, how do you decide where to eat before the show?  I love to get really local food wherever I go. There is a kind of network amongst musicians. Everybody goes on tour, and starts to know where to go. Some musicians are really crazy about food. People like Mike Patton and Dan Nakamura love food. If I go somewhere new I always call up my musician friends and ask where to eat.    Also, if I meet someone really nice, we basically start to talk about the weather, then food. It’s a social thing. If that person really has a philosophy and loyalty about food, I can tell from the conversation. And eating with people who appreciate food makes a dish so much better. To eat with somebody who doesn’t…it’s almost like bad sex. I want to be with people who say, “Wow, this is good!”

If you could pick your next tour based on food, where would you go?  Originally, I am from Japan; so I know where to go, and the food is good. A place I go every time I go back there—the place that I think is heaven—is [depa-chika] under the Japanese department store. It’s like a delicatessen, but it’s the whole entire floor. All famous department stores, like Takashimaya, Isetan and Matsuzakaya, have it. You can eat all kinds of little things, and you get the best of everything. Japanese people are really good at importing food from all over the world. You can get the best cheese, the best wine, and even Chinese food. My favorites are the pickled vegetables, Japanese peaches, and yuzu pastries. I love those [depa-chika]. They are so much fun.

Do you like to cook?  I love to cook. My grandmother is a really good cook so I got into it from her. Her clam miso soup and rice balls (sigh)…it’s very typical home cooking, but somehow, she makes it so good—better than restaurants. I think her hands produce some kind of yummy enzyme or something! I always want to cook like her, but when I go back [to Japan], I realize; she is always in the kitchen.  It takes time! Japanese home cooking is just little dishes, but a lot of little dishes. So, we basically eat little by little, all kinds of food.

Since you can’t be in the kitchen all day, what do you usually cook for yourself?  I love making congee with short grain brown rice. I add a slice of daikon, ginger, and scallions. And, after its cooked, parsley, maybe some smoked salmon, and a piece of nori. That’s basically what my music is, all kinds of things. A little bit of serendipity, and a hint of attitude…it’s a new approach. That’s what I love about both of them—food and music. 

How important is food in the process of creating music?  I think it’s the place to begin. When I started Cibo Matto, our songs were like White Pepper Ice Cream. It was a new, interesting combination I’d never thought about. That food gave me some kind of new passage in my brain, and that helped to create a new style of music. My attitude towards food and music is influenced by a love for unique things. That’s the reason I’m in New York, and why I love this place.

Was food an inspiration for Ecdysis, your new solo album?  Yes, it’s always been, for me. For example, I love to see colors in a dish. When I think about food, I always think about yellow, red, green, white—it’s like a palette, like painting. We can choose to have color or not. It’s our option what to take in life. I would rather choose a variety of what we have on this earth. That’s my attitude towards food and music.

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