First Course (Zembu):—shiru, soup, which may be made of bean-curd, of fish, of sea-weed, or of some other material; o-hira, boiled fish, either alone or floating in soup; tsubo, sea-weed or some other appetiser, boiled in a small deep bowl or cup; namasu, raw fish cut in slices, and served with vinegar and cold stewed vegetables; aemono, a sort of salad made with bean sauce or pounded sesamum seeds; yakimono, raw fish (although the name means "broiled") served in a bamboo basket, but generally only looked at and not eaten; kō-no-mono, pickled vegetables, such as egg-plant, cabbage-leaves, or the strong-smelling radish (daikon), which is as great a terror to the noses of most foreigners as European cheese is to the noses of most Japanese.
Second Course (Ni no zen): soup, raw fish (but only if none has been served in the first course), and rice.
Such banquets as the above are of course not given every day. At smaller dinners not more than half such a menu would be represented. Quiet, well-to-do people, living at home, may have a couple of dishes at each meal—a broiled fish perhaps, and some soup, or else an omelette, besides pickles to help the rice down with. The Oriental abstemiousness which figures so largely in travellers tales, is no part of Japanese manners at all events. To make up for the comparative lightness and monotony of their food, the Japanese take plenty of it. It is the custom, too, to set food before a guest, at whatever time of day he calls. On such occasions soba is in request a sort of buckwheat vermicelli, served with soy and the sweet liqueur called mirin; or else shiruko, that is, rice-cakes with a sauce made of red beans and sugar; or sushi, rice-cakes plastered over with fish or with seaweed on which vinegar has been sprinkled. Even when these things are not given and among the Europeanised upper classes they are now mostly abandoned—tea and cakes are always set before every guest. Many of the Japanese cakes and sugar-plums are pleasant eating. They atone to some extent for the absence of puddings and for the poorness of Japanese fruit.[1]
- ↑ Since about 1893 or 1894, small quantities of excellent peaches and pears—presu-
