History/Food settings/festivals

Tea: Japan's Aesthetic Life

The roots of Japanese Cuisine traces back to sado which is the "way of tea". Many aspects of the Japanese Culture is said to have been formed from tea culture.

The Culture of Rice

Rice is a common element to most Japanese cuisine in Japan. The word for rice "gohan". The most basic meal consists of plain rice and soup and the rest of the meal,  okazu (things that go with rice) are the added elements.

Rice was used historically used as currency and in modern day it has become the center of almost every Japanese festival and religious ceremony.

Sake is made from rice. It was thought to be a sacred liquid that had the ability to cleanse evil spirits. It is related to Shinto shrines.

Rice cultivation was influenced the national character of Japan. The production of the trade is a community effort. They believe in social unity and cooperation over individuality. Although Japan is far from the days of its roots of village farming, the beliefs and qualities of the past still remain. Rice is considered sacred and the emperor plants seedlings every June at the rice paddy within the grounds of the imperial palace.

Settings (tableware)

Tableware is an important element to Japanese cuisine. Choosing the perfect serving dish is an art form. In Japan, better restaurants have quality tableware. Food Arrangement is a tradition that goes back to the 16th century.

At home, modern cooks don't usually follow the rules or can afford to splurge on quality tableware. However, the setting of a table is one of the best parts of a home cooked meal. It conveys a mood. "The color, shape and even tactile feel of the vessel also enhance whatever food is served, making it even more delicious."

"The artful arrangement of food on appropriate and beautiful tableware adds so much to the enjoyment of the meal that it cannot be stressed enough. No matter how delicious your perfectly simmered halibut may be, the result can be ruined with a white round dish (wrong shape) that shows the drippings (wrong color.)"

The five Attitudes

The five attitudes of partaking in food comes from Buddhist faith that is often posted at some restaurants that serve vegetarian temple cuisine. Most Japanese cannot recite them directly but they are the foundation for the Japanese attitude towards food by cultivating a spirit of gratitude.

The following five phrases are from the book 'good food from a Japanese temple' by Soei Yoneda:

-I reflect on the work that brings this food before me; let me see whence this food comes.

-I reflect on my imperfections, on whether I am deserving of this offering of food.

-I take this food as an effective medicine to keep my body in good health.

-I accept this food so that I will fulfill my task of enlightenment.

Ryokan (Japanese inns)

Japanese Inns promote the quality of food. Meals are traditional Japanese cuisine called kaiseki. These feature seasonal and regional specialties. Historically kaiseki referred to light meals served during tea ceremonies but today it refers to a meal with a number of small varied dishes. 

In order for the meals to be enjoyed at the proper temperature, they expect guests to be punctual for the meals. This is why, they always confirm with the guests the best time they want to eat the meals.

Some ryokan have communal dinings areas but most serve their guests in guest rooms. Ryokan which serve non-Japanese guests may sometimes have a selection of western foods.

A typical ryokan has a large entrance hall with couches and chairs for guests to sit. Sometimes they have a TV in the hall as well. The guest rooms are traditional with tatami flooring and sliding doors. There is usually a small entrance way where guests take off their shoes before stepping onto the tatami floor. When guests enter the room they usually will find a table with supplies to make tea and also the table is used for meals.

Seasonality

Seasonality extends beyond the food itself in an attempt to enhance the dining experience, for instance, to the tableware. A glass bowl that mimics the texture of ice, thus making the diner feel cool, would be inappropriate in the dead of winter. Likewise, earthy, warm-hued ceramic dishes are favored in the fall, while bright green dishes, mimicking the color of fresh bamboo leaves, are used in spring. Cherry blossoms, or vegetables cut into their shape, garnish dishes in spring, while delicate scarlet maple leaves are scattered across fall place settings.

-Dishes are designed to herald the arrival of the four seasons or calendar months.

-Taking advantage of the “fruit of the mountains” as well as the “fruit of the sea” as they come into season.

- New Year festivals (January): Osechi (food in layered trays is prepared. The osechi are traditional foods which are chosen for their lucky colours, shapes or lucky sounding names in hopes of obtaining good luck in various areas of life during the year.

-People stay awake and eat toshikoshisoba (noodles to be eaten before midnight)

-On the 2-3 day people attend and sip otoso( a spiced rice wine)

-Preparations for seeing in the New Year were originally undertaken to greet the toshigami, or deity of the incoming year.

-A special altar, known as toshidana ("year shelf"), is piled high with kagamimochi (flat, round rice cakes), sake (rice wine), persimmons, and other foods in honor of the toshigami. 

Festivals

O-tsukimi, Japan's Harvest Moon Festival

At most homes, it’s celebrated in a much more humble manner. Autumn flowers and susuki (pampas grass, which is at its tallest and most beautiful at this time), are displayed, and kabocha (pumpkin), chestnuts, satoimo (taro potato) andtsukimi dango (small white rice dumplings, piled high on a tray), are offered to the moon in the family alter. The dumplings were traditionally thought to bring happiness and good health, and the offering is not only for the moon’s beauty, but an expression of gratitude for the autumn harvest.

Oshogatsu

All housework and cooking is to be finished by December 31, so that January 1st can be spent enjoying time with family and friends. All but the most vital shops close from December 28 to January 3rd. So, as you can imagine, it takes quite a bit of work and planning to keep a well-stocked table. This type of New Year’s cuisine even has its own name; Osechi-ryori.

Osechi ryori is a traditional style of cooking based on ancient methods of preserving food, such as curing in salt or vinegar, or simmering in sweetened soy sauce and sake. In osechi-ryori, vegetables predominate, as well as grilled fish such as Tai (sea bream) and buri. All are prepared to be eaten at room temperature, and can be kept for several days without refrigeration. These morsels are tightly packed into exquisite lacquer boxes called jubako. Care is taken to include lucky colors, such as brightly colored pink and white kamaboko (fish cakes) and kohaku namasu (red and white salad), as well foods with symolic meaning such as kazunoko (herring roe, literally meaning “many children”), renkon, (lotus root; a Buddhist symbol) and sweet kuromame (black beans, again, for fertility), tai (sea bream, the last syllable of the word for celebratory: omedeTAI.

Modern times leave little time for such eleborate cooking, and it's no wonder that these days, many Japanese buy ready-made osechi-ryori from the better kaiseki restaurants. These marvelous boxed meals, like super-gourmet bento, can be ordered ahead of time and arrive in lacquered, wooden, or plastic boxes, depending on the price. These can be as high as $3,000 from such famous restaurants such as Kitcho in Kyoto, but even the most modest variety costs around $300.

Doll festival

-A day where families pray for the happiness and prosperity of their girls and help ensure they grow up healthy and beautiful. Families at home celebrate with a special meal of hishimochi (diamond shaped rice cakes) and shirozake (rice malt with sake).

Food:

Hishimochi
Hishimochi are lovely, diamond-shaped mochi (rice cakes) with pink, white and green layers. Pink represents plum blossoms, in season in late February and early March. White represents the snow of the waning winter, while green represents the new, fresh growth of early spring.

Shiro-zake
Shiro-zake is the first variety of sake of the year, available in early spring. White, unfiltered and sweet, it came to be associated with girls, (and thus, the festival) even though women did not necessarily drink sake in the old days. The pure-white color of the sake also compliments the pink of the plum blossoms. Red (or pink) and white also signify happiness and good fortune, and are often displayed during festivals.

Hina arare
Hina arare are small, blossom or snowflake-like pink, white and green balls of crunchy puffed rice, sometimes sweetened with sugar. In the old days, arare were made of leftover mochi from the Oshogatsu (New Year’s) festival celebration, and therefore, were often enjoyed during girl’s day. This thrifty and creative use of materials also came to symbolize the desirable qualities of a good wife.

 Hinami (flower viewing festival)

- Picnics, food, drinks while enjoying the blossoming of cherry blossoms.

 The festival itself has changed little over the centuries: groups of friends and colleagues gather to enjoy food and drink, play games, and sing and dance under blossom-laden branches. Food and drink vendors line the main pathways, but most Japanese bring specially prepared homemade (or these days, more likely store bought) hanami bento. These include the usual seasonal grilled fish and simmered spring vegetables, plus rice scattered with vegetables cut into the delicate shape of sakura petals. 

Greenyomogimochi (spring herb dumplings) and kamaboko (fish cakes) with pink designs add to the festive mix, making the bentos especially colorful. The festivities start at lunchtime and continue in waves on through the night, when the atmosphere transforms, thanks to the efforts of local committees who transform the parks with huge torches and rows of gaily colored lanterns. The parties can get boisterous; if you are wandering alone, you'll soon find yourself invited to join drunken parties by emboldened revelers.

No Cherry Blossom viewing party is complete without colorful hanami bentos. Specially prepared by professional chefs and home cooks throughout Japan for their customers and loved ones to enjoy during this important spring festival, these delightful bento boxes are brimming with the bounty of the season. They are meant to represent not only the cherry blossoms, but the arrival of spring, so pink, red and orange hues predominate. Thus, the bentos might include shrimp, salmon and sakuradai (pink sea bream) sushi, simmered kabocha (pumpkin) and carrot, and sakura mochi: savory-sweet pink-tinged rice dumplings filled with anko (bean paste) and wrapped in salty preserved sakura leaves. Spring vegetables and foods such as wild ferns, grilled salmon and green yomogimochi (spring herb dumplings) are also commonly found.

Some traditional hanami staples are not really seasonal or rare, but happen to be tasty accompaniments to beer and sake (the drinks of choice during the parties). An example is chicken karaage (Japanese fried chicken). Just like Western fried chicken, karaage is delicious when served piping-hot, but is almost as good at room temperature or even cold.

Ōmisoka 

People do the general house cleaning (Ōsōji) to welcome coming year and not to keep having impure influences. Many people visit Buddhist temples to hear the temple bells rung 108 times at midnight (joya no kane). This is to announce the passing of the old year and the coming of the new. The reason they are rung 108 times is because of the Buddhist belief that human beings are plagued by 108 earthly desires or passions (bonnō). With each ring one desire is dispelled. It is also a custom to eat toshikoshi-soba in the hope that one's family fortunes will extend like the long noodles.

Bibliography

http://www.savoryjapan.com/ingredients.html

http://www.savoryjapan.com/learn/culture/power.of.five.html



Japanese sweets