History of Natto and Its Relatives (1405-2012 - SoyInfo Center

Industrial Research, Oshodi, where Dr. Akinrele worked. An
agreement was made with Nestle’s Foods (Nigeria) Ltd. for
commercialization but this fell through. About one month
ago a new agreement was made with an indigenous company
which will now hopefully commercialize the product.
“Apart from soy-ogi, nothing as far as I know is being
done with soy foods in Nigeria. I am working presently on
fermented Parkia fi licoidea (African locust bean). The local
name of the product is ‘Iru’. A part of the work involves
using soybeans as substitute raw material instead of locust
beans.” Address: Dep. of Food Science & Technology, Univ.
of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Phone: Ife 2291.
947. Pantry Supermarkets. 1983. Double coupons! (Ad). Los
Angeles Times. Feb. 24. p. SG3.
• Summary: The section titled “Oriental foods” states:
“Hinode natto (steamed soybeans) 5 oz.–49¢. Hinode
Japanese tofu 19 oz.–59¢. Hinode kinugoshi tofu 12 oz.–59¢.
Hinode Chinese tofu 20 oz. 59¢. Sisco koji miso 1 lb.–$1.25.
Kokuho Rose rice 15 lb. bag–$7.99.”
Note: The Pantry has 11 supermarkets in southern
California: Pasadena (3), Duarte, Placentia, Arcadia, Santa
Ana, Fullerton, Tustin, Costa Mesa, and Monrovia. Address:
Los Angeles Co. and southern California.
948. Soyfoods.1983. Soyfoods mini-boom underway in
Europe. Winter. p. 8-9.
• Summary: “’This year we became aware that the kind
of developments that took place in the U.S. in 1977-78 are
now taking place in Europe with the sudden increase in the
number of soyfoods companies,’ reports Bill Shurtleff of The
Soyfoods Center. ‘Historically speaking, this will probably
be the most important event for the soyfoods industry in
1982. Europe is coming on strong and it’s a tradition of
soyfoods that goes back 130 years that is now being revived.’
“Most of the impetus for soyfoods in Europe apparently
stems from the vigor of the macrobiotic community.
Per Fruergaard started Tofu Denmark in Valby and has
encountered legal problems regarding the use of nigari.
In Paris, France, Bernard Storup purchased a Takai tofu
system; Ab and Paulien Schaft are setting up a small plant
in Baillestavy to make miso, shoyu, natto, and koji; in Ivry,
Jean Luc Alonso’s macrobiotic center, Traditions du Grain,
prepares for tempeh production.
“In the British Isles, Paul Jones’ Tofu Shop in London,
England, has been active since 1981 while Community
Health Foundation, also in London, promotes homescale
tofu, tempeh, and misomaking. In Dublin, Ireland, Jane
O’Brien gives tofu cooking classes, has published a tofu
cookbook and is considering commercial production.
“The macrobiotic movement is strong in Belgium where
de Brandnetel, a large Antwerp-based distributor of natural
foods, operates a tofu shop in the rear of their retail store.
Jonathan Company in Ekeren makes 3000 pounds of tofu
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HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 306
weekly, along with seitan, mochi, soups, canned foods, and
soymilk. Seven Arrows in Leuven is another small tofu shop
in operation.
“In the Netherlands Manna was the fi rst company to
introduce soyfoods to the public and is now an important
promoter. Manna’s John Welters (who provided much of
this information) lectures on homescale soy processing and
reports interest and sales are rising as are the number of
magazine articles on soyfoods. Manna itself markets tofu
spreads and distributes a joint equipment price list with Takai
Company of Japan. Witte Wonder in The Hague makes tofu,
as does De Morgenstond in Bakkeveen, while Peter Dekker’s
Jakso produces tempeh. In Portugal, Unimave promotes soy
as part of the macrobiotic diet and makes small amounts of
tofu and soymilk; Jose Parracho in Setubal is starting a selfsuffi
cient center involving tofu and tempeh production.
“In Soyen, West Germany, Wolfgang Furth-Kuby, who
published Das Tofu Buch (by William Shurtleff) in German,
is interested in tofu production at his Sojaquelle. Tofu
producers are Swame [sic, Swami] Anand Svadesha in Furthim-Wald,
Thomas Kasas [sic, Karas] who installed a tofu
system last summer at his Bittersuess [later Soyastern] in
Cologne, and Alexander Nabben in Munich.
“In Sweden Tim Ohlund and Ted Nordquist have
been operating Aros Sojaprodukter since early 1981 in
Örsundsbro using a Takai pressure cooker system and
vacuum packaging. In Rimini, Italy, Gilberto Bianchini
makes tofu at Community Foods. And Switzerland is the
home of four soy companies including Restaurant Sesam
in Bern, an active macrobiotic center with homescale tofu
and seitan production; Marty Halsey makes tofu in Nyon;
Hans Opplinger produces tofu in Chan; and Verena Krieger
operates Sojalade in Luzern (Lucerne).
“Sojalade, whose tofu output at mid-summer 1982 was
1000 pounds weekly, is a company launched mainly on the
results of an article Ms. Krieger published (‘Yesterday Steak,
Tomorrow Tofu’) in a Swiss Sunday magazine. Krieger
then established her shop to meet the expected tofu demand
stirred up by her article. Swiss national television ran a 30
minute feature on soybeans this year in which Krieger made
a brief demonstration of 5 tofu dishes. ‘Since then tofu has
been a favorite child of the media,’ she says, adding that tofu
appeared in the pages of Blick, a mass market newspaper.”
Photos show: (1) European representatives at the
international Soyfoods Come West conference in Seattle,
Washington: Gilberto Bianchini, Marina Casazza (Italy);
Joanna White (Switzerland); Kym Olsen (England);
Wolfgang Furth-Kuby (W. Germany); Tim Ohlund (Sweden);
Roger Kayes (England). (2) Ted Nordquist and Tim Ohlund
of Aros Sojaprodukter, Sweden’s fi rst tofu company.
949. Taira, Harue; Takagi, Hideo; Kokubun, K.; Koyama,
S.; Hoshino, S.; Miyauchi, N. 1983. Kokusan daizu no
hinshitsu. II. Futsû hatake to suiden tenkan saibai daizu