Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The day having begun with the shutters open and the bedding stowed away or out to
air, the next concern was the first meal. In most town households there were two meals a
day, one in the morning and one in the early evening. Country folk often had a third meal,
at midday, but it was not until late in the period that this habit spread to the towns, where it
is not even now completely universal.
The style of eating varied from household to household, and depended upon the
prosperityofthefamily,andthestatuswithinthefamilyoftheeater.Theheadatewithany
important guests, and also sometimes with his eldest son. He was waited on by his wife
or daughter-in-law, who were assisted by maidservants if the family could afford them.
The women did not eat with the menfolk, but had their meal separately, either in snatches
during their lord and master's repast, and afterwards finishing off any leftovers, or, where
there was a young daughter-in-law, she might wait upon her husband's mother. Obviously,
in so socially developed a country there would be a great deal of individual variation from
household to household even in the same prosperity group.
Thenormalmethodofservingwasforthewholemeal(excepttherice)tobebroughtin
on an individual lacquer tray, typically four-legged, about 18 inches square, and standing
some nine inches high. This would be placed before the eater. On it were arranged the
preliminary items of the meal, those with which etiquette allowed
sake
to be drunk, and
which preceded the main nutritional bulkofthe rice that concluded the meal. The selection
offered reflected more than anything else the occasion, the prosperity of the family, and
status within the household. The bottom of the scale was represented by a meal consisting
of a soup of
miso,
some vegetables, some rice or rice-substitute, pickles, and tea.
Miso
is made from soybeans, which are first treated rather like butter beans, being al-
lowed to soak and then boiled. After this they are broken down to a paste and mixed with
rice-yeast, salt, and water, and left to ferment and mature for some years: the result is a
brownish-red, fibrous liquid that can be diluted in water. It has a characteristic taste and
smell. Like all Japanese soups, it was served hot in a lacquer bowl fitted with a lid that
could be used inverted as a saucer.
Miso
soup could have vegetables, such as the leaves of
plants like parsley and celery, or edible stems or roots, such as those of the lotus, cooked
with it, or these could be served separately, boiled and with flavoring, such as bean-paste
with aromatic seeds. The soup was consumed partly by drinking from the bowl, and partly
bytheuseofchop-sticks,whichwereusedeithertopickmorselsoutofthesoup,ortopush
floating vegetables into the mouth, with the bowl held to the lips. Chop-sticks
(hash)
were
often made of untreated wood, and these were thought of as expendable, but others were
made, for individual use, of lacquer, or even of ivory or precious metal, and might be kept
in a case for security or for travel. A house where the appointments were a little superior
would have decorated rests on which to place the chopsticks to avoid dirtying the tray.
