Japanese Food History

Early Modern Change

Sushi!

Japan

Nagoya: Atsuta ShrineSake Barrels & Shinto Priest

New Foods

• 16th century Foreign Influences: – Korean-style (or Mongolian) Teppan yaki– Portuguese Tempura and Castela cake– "Pan"– Indian pepper.– Chinese Ramen

Early Modern Japan (17th to 19th c.)

• Agricultural Boom: Peace Dividend– Columbian Exchange: Sweet Potatoes,

green beans, maize, red peppers, pumpkins, watermelon, spinach, chili peppers, peanuts

– Spread of beriberi as polished rice became more common

– Hunting declined, except wildfowl; domesticated pig, chicken popular

• Lunch

Everyday Food"What we think of as the traditional Japanese diet of steamed rice accompanied by soup, one or more side dishes, and pickles, developed slowly... Even samurai families often had a daily diet of coarse grains or rice mixed with other grains with a side dish of fish or something extra for the master, but only soup, pickles and possibly boiled vegetables for the rest of the family and the servants." (Hanley 1997, 86)

Rural Food• "in Japan, one-pot meals had one or

more grains - usually including rice - as their base, and other foods, particularly vegetables, were added appropriately during the cooking process." (Hanley 1997, 79)

• Shinano: 20 different rice strains, buckwheat, beans, daikon radish, vegetables, grasshoppers, horse chestnuts, wild greens

Urban Food

• Restaurants and tea houses• sushi• Tempura• buckweat soba, wheat ramen, • rice cake/bean soup• eel• Box Lunches: Bento

Bento Lunch on Lacquer

Nagoya: Soba Shop

Sushi

• Vinegar and salt are preservatives, pickling agents.

• Stuffing fish with salted or sugared rice causes fermentation, a technique from China.

• Fresher versions, using rice wine vinegar, develop in the 1600s, become urban staples

• Usually eaten with ginger, mustard and/or soy, for health and flavor.

Sushi Lunch, Hilo (KTA Supermarket)

Sushi, cont.• Nigiri rice ball sushi develops in the early 19th

century in Edo as street food. – Finger food from stalls, chopsticks at the theater.

• Wasabi mostly elite seasoning until 19c.• Nori seaweed (actually algae) wrappers were

luxury foods until 1950s British botanist Kathleen Drew-Baker discovered their reproductive cycle. Now mass-produced. More popular in US than in Japan.

Sushi Chef, Nagoya, 1985

Sashimi• Raw fish an elite delicacy (and fisherman's

food) from earliest recorded history. • Most of Japan is coastline, so elites could

always get fresh fish, but seasonal varieties.• Modern refrigeration and ice manufacture

makes it middle-class food• Modern fishing technology and prosperity

makes it cheaper, available for everyone.• Now fresh and raw fish is the standard, not

salted or preserved.

Global Sushi• Japanese restaurants in the US West, but not

popular except with expatriate Japanese.• 1970s, with rise of Japanese economy and

health food fads, sees West coast sushi become popular

• Spreads to other major cities in 1980s.• New Global Ingredients: mayonaise, avocado,

cream cheese, spicy sauces

Kansas City Hen House Sushi

The Right Way To Eat Sushi• Diversity of Traditions– Regional (Tokyo/Osaka, etc.)– Common v. Urban v. Elite– Seasonal

• Seasonal "rules" develop from pre-refrigeration, pre-industrial transportation era

• Purity, simplicity, delicacy based on kaiseki elite Zen influence, blends with pop culture in 20c.

• mid-20c Wartime rationing created "eat everything/no preferences" culture

Atom Boy Revolving Family Sushi

Sources• Susan Hanley, Everyday Things in Premodern

Japan: The Hidden Legacy of Material Culture, UCP, 1997

• William Wayne Farris, Japan to 1600: A Social And Economic History, U Hawaii Press, 2009

• Edo: Art in Japan, 1615-1868 by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

• Michael Ashkenazi, Jeanne Jacob. The Essence of Japanese Cuisine: An Essay on Food and Culture. Curzon Press, 2000.

• Trevor Corson, The Zen of Fish: The Story of Sushi from Samurai to Supermarket, Harper Collins, 2007.

• Pictures by Jonathan Dresner– http://www.flickr.com/photos/jondresner/

• Crocheted Sushi by Karin McAdams