leftovers »

From the JT today:

Macrobiotics, a diet and lifestyle regimen aimed at longer, healthier living, has enjoyed a boom in recent years due to some high-profile celebrity fans. Along with Madonna, actors Tom Cruise and Gwyneth Paltrow are among those thought to be keen on the diet, whose basic principles include eating whole grains, locally-grown organic vegetables, natural seasonings and food without artificial additives.

Mayumi Nishimura is undoubtedly a leader of the macrobiotic lifestyle, having served as Madonna’s private chef for seven years through the end of 2007. She even lived with the singer’s family in London and accompanied her on wordwide tours.

Now back home in Japan, 53-year-old Nishimura hopes to promote a more relaxed, contemporary style of macrobiotic cooking that she calls “petit-macro.” Nishimura’s style sticks to natural seasonings and a largely vegetarian diet, allowing for more flexibility in people’s food choices.

“Macrobiotics is not about dos and don’ts, but about trying to have a balanced diet using a variety of ingredients,” Nishimura said during a recent interview in Tokyo, while preparing an appetizing platter of vegetable burritos using slices of avocado and carrot, and lentils seasoned with sea salt and a maple syrup-balsamic vinegar mixture.

“As long as you base your diet on the whole grain, vegetables and no refined foods or artificial additives, the rest is free; choices are really up to you.”

In her new English-language book, “Mayumi’s Kitchen,” which was released by Kodansha International earlier this month, Nishimura shares a variety of recipes that defy the dull, stoic images of macrobiotics that she said are often confused with traditional Japanese cuisine.

[read in full here]