Hare Today
Super Goron
Super Goron by Yoh Kakuda
Goodbye Tiger, Hello Rabbit! Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate. According to legend, the rabbit is the fourth zodiac sign, the order having been determined by how quickly the guests arrived at the Jade Emperor’s party. Of course the rapid rabbit got there first, but seeing no one else, took a nap, and came in fourth. The story sounds very familiar even without a tortoise – in this version, it was the slow ox who beat the rabbit. If you are a “rabbit”, you are likely compatible with a dog, pig or goat, and don’t get along so well with a rooster, dragon or rat. You find the colors red, pink, purple and blue to be lucky, and avoid brown, gray and white. You are creative, and social. During this new year period, the “Spring Festival”, it’s good to be positive, and there are other taboos to avoid – don’t break anything, don’t use sharp objects, don’t clean or sweep, don’t visit the doctor (!), don’t give a clock as a gift, and most importantly, do not visit your wife’s family!
put your hare up
On the other hand, you should most certainly try to solve a puzzle or two. Like this adorable offering from Japanese Karakuri Creation Group artist Yoh Kakuda, who explains the inspiration of the puzzle box. “SUPER GORON was modeled after a friend's rabbit, Hanabi. When I asked my friend about the ecology of rabbits to help me come up with the idea for the karakuri box, I learned that rabbits can fall right sideways with a slam. I was told that rabbits are not good at lying down and that they fall down with great force. I was then shown a video of Hanabi the rabbit falling over. The gesture before falling down was amazingly cute, but I was surprised at how vigorously it fell down. I thought this movement was perfect for a karakuri box. I immediately sketched the scene. I think the idea for this work came together quite early on. The mechanism was based on Kamei's dice.”
bad hare day?
If you speak Japanese, you would not consider this insight from Kakuda to reveal anything new about the puzzle, because “goron” means “to lie down” in Japanese, and while “super” has many meanings in English, the implied meaning in Japanese is not ambiguous. Like many Karakuri Creation Group pieces, the goal is not necessarily to confuse, but to celebrate an artistic representation of the theme and mechanism. “Some rabbit owners call the way their rabbits fall over vigorously "super goron". I think it is only Japan. So, I decided to make the title "SUPER GORON". And "MINI GORON" is a smaller version of SUPER GORON.”
I shall call him … mini me
Yoh Kakuda is well known for creating animals, or people who are ambiguous, based on a story or theme. Because this requires making more organic shapes, there is always something new to learn from each design. “During development and production, there were some difficult parts in places. It was difficult to cut a rounded back with long ears. First, without the face, I temporarily attached the back plate to the main body with tape, and then shaved most of it with a sander. Then, after the face and back were completely glued to the body, I did the final finishing. One rabbit's ears got hit by the sander and blew off. (It was fixed and resurrected as a sample.) In selecting the wood, I put emphasis on wood that fits the image of the work and is easy to handle. The best wood is the one that does not move easily to make a mechanism. The Super Goron is made of Shuri Cherry and the Mini Goron is made of Kenponashi, both of which match the hair texture of the model rabbit.”
clever colony
Many of Kakuda’s designs are modeled after and pay homage to the memory of real animals. “Both SUPER GORON and MINI GORON are modeled after my friend's rabbit. My friend is very happy with them. Sadly, Hanabi passed away two years ago. I am happy that SUPER GORON was able to be part of that adorable memory. I was quite enchanted by the loveliness of the rabbit and would like to make another rabbit with a different mechanism. My karakuri boxes incorporate the ecology and characteristics of the animals that form the motif into the karakuri. I aim to create pieces that are not only interesting in form, but also tell a story, and I hope you will enjoy that.”
And I Mean Ice! by Terry Williams
To celebrate the Year of the Rabbit, I’m toasting this bunny with a lapin libation that has local roots. Terry Williams, one of Houston, Texas’ “Bartender of the Year” winners, is a local star with international recognition as a master sommelier as well. He has managed both Anvil Bar and Refuge, Houston’s most famous bar program, Better Luck Tomorrow and Squable, joint restaurant collaborations between Anvil owner Bobby Heugel and James Beard winning chef Justin Yu, where he first created this cocktail. The drink is differentiated from a standard Negroni by way of its aging process, which occurs from exposure to clay shards. Clay aged spirits can be traced back thousands of years to Greek amphora used to store wine. Modern natural winemakers have revived this practice in pursuit of new flavor experiences outside of traditional wood cask aging. Portland bartender Douglas Derrick is credited with first aging a Negroni in clay about ten years ago to achieve a “subtle earthiness and minerality” that would avoid the tannins and oak imparted from barrel aging.
this cocktail rocks!
William’s clay-aged Negroni follows the basic template but doubles the gin to better balance the mellowing effect of the clay. Using a traditional non-glazed clay vessel, the aging process will take about two weeks to achieve the subtle mellowing and melding of flavors, which results in a drink that tastes more like a deliciously mild amaro than a bitter Negroni. Williams speeds the process at his restaurant by aging the mixture with pottery shards. He puts his own unique spin on the drink with a quote and a nod to one of his favorite movies, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”. Fans of the movie will recall a scene when Bob Hoskins’ character, the detective Eddie, orders a “scotch on the rocks”, and then shouts at the retreating waiter’s back, “AND I MEAN ICE!”. Of course, this being Toon Town, the drink comes out served with a big rock. Which is exactly how you will receive the drink at Squable, too. Cheers!
Two Bits!
And I Mean Ice! Adapted from Terry Williams
2 oz gin
1 oz Campari
½ oz Cocchi di Torino vermouth
½ oz spiced blood orange vermouth
Scale recipe up to fill an unglazed terra cotta vessel and wait patiently for two weeks. Serve over a (clean) chilled large rock in an old fashioned glass.
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