Photo/Illutration Seven varieties of "okonomiyaki" Japanese pancake prepared to incorporate the food culture of each member country of the Group of Seven are shown to the media on Feb. 20 in Hiroshima's Nishi Ward. (Shiro Matsuda)

HIROSHIMA--To add flavor to the upcoming Group of Seven summit here in May, a local association will be dishing out the city's "okonomiyaki" pancakes cooked with ingredients from the participants' countries.

Each version includes signature specialties such as pasta from Italy and hamburger buns from the United States.

The city-based Okonomiyaki Academy, which is a general incorporated association, is encouraging eateries to include the special dishes into their menus and intends to serve them at events.

It is said that Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, known as the city's "soul food," originated after the atomic bombing when people cooked flour on iron plates to fill their stomachs.

"Okonomiyaki has gone from a food for survival to Hiroshima's specialty," said Shigeki Sasaki, president of Otafuku Holdings Co., who also serves as head director of the academy. "Given current global events, we want to incorporate a message (into the dishes) that they symbolize the peace and reconstruction of Hiroshima."

The academy was founded in April 2014 to promote okonomiyaki across the world through its research activities. It consists of about 250 okonomiyaki restaurants in Hiroshima Prefecture, other prefectures and outside Japan.

In November 2022, it was appointed as the "ambassador" tasked with promoting Hiroshima's cuisine.

The academy started developing okonomiyaki dishes themed on each G-7 member country after Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki sought help from the organization to do something for the big event.

For Japan, the academy decided on "niku-tama-soba" (meat-egg-noodle), a typical Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki primarily cooked with layers of batter, cabbage, bean sprouts, noodles and pork.

For the remaining six countries, their iconic ingredients are incorporated to represent their food culture, including galette for France; hamburgers for the United States; fish and chips for Britain; sausage, potatoes and sour cabbage for Germany; carbonara pasta for Italy; and maple syrup for Canada.

In preparing to develop the menu, academy members interviewed restaurants about food ingredients associated with the country names and also collected questionnaires from expats from these countries.

They completed the recipes in January through trial and error, while paying attention to the history of the food culture of each country and their association with Hiroshima.

They also made sure that restaurants can prepare the special dishes with regular okonomiyaki components by adding signature ingredients from each country.

The recipes are also published online for consumers wanting to try them out.

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