Master of Senbei (Japan, Kyoyo)

In the heart of a Kyoto shop, an artisan prepares senbei — traditional Japanese crackers —using a time-honored manual process. The gesture is precise: a fluid batter, poured from a suspended cone, is placed in a cast iron mold heated by a flame. The mixture is then filled, baked, turned, cooled, and then packaged by hand.

Ingredients vary by region; here, Japanese green peas (青えんどう, ao endō ) provide a crisp texture and a slight bitterness. Everything is prepared in public view, not for show, but because the work is not hidden. Fire, metal, dough: everything is mastered in a cycle repeated hundreds of times a day. This know-how, still alive in the traditional districts of Kyoto , is less a matter of cooking than of ritual culinary craftsmanship .