Azusa Suganuma

Graduate of a MA of Social Sciences from the University of Hitotsubashi and a MA  Storia e Cultura dell’Alimentazione from the University of Bologna, Azusa Suganuma works for a Japanese firm specialised in food processing. She is in charge of Italian products imports such as pasta, olive oil and tomato tins, and is a renowned olive oil sommelier in AISO.
Since her early years, Azusa became curious about cultures from different countries, especially their cuisine. She realised soon enough that a country’s cuisine is often linked to its History and its culture, which is why she now wishes that Japanese gastronomy be known as part of its authentic History.

Ekiben: the boxed meal for railway trips in Japan

13 MARCH 2016 | AZUSA SUGANUMA

When you take a long-distance train in Japan, you may see a group of friends laughing and talking and, at a certain point, they take out some boxes, put them on their knees and begin to eat from the boxes in the train. Or you can encounter a businessman board the bullet train with a plastic bag, especially in the evening when he might finish his work. A minute after the train leaves the station, he takes a canned beer from the bag, drinks it a little then opens the box and begins to eat from it with chopsticks. These boxed meals taken in trains are called “Ekiben (駅弁)” and they are seen quite often at the stations for long-distance trains. In this article, I would like to present this Ekiben phenomenon in Japan and try to show some varieties of regional characteristics demonstrated in this boxed meal for the railway trips.

Railway development in Japan

When the steam locomotive was introduced in England for the first time in history in 1825¹, Japan was still under the control of Samurai and the Tokugawa shogunate had taken the policy of isolation called Sakoku 鎖国 in the first half of the 17th century. During the Sakoku period it was prohibited to go out from the land and contact with foreigners was limited to commercial trade with China, Taiwan and the Netherlands on the small island of Dejima at Nagasaki. It lasted for about 200 years until 1854. The Tokugawa government has ceased in 1868 and when it was replaced by the reign of Emperor, the new government decided to introduce occidental habits and technology to modernize the country, which was to catch up with Europe and America where Industrial Revolution had already taken place.

The railway was one of these technologies introduced in Japan and the first rail was constructed in 1872 between Shinbashi and Yokohama ². It passed the coast of Tokyo for about 30km and the Meiji Emperor, important Japanese politicians and several occidental ministers took the first train. It was a single-track operation as a passenger train³. The government finances were severed by internal conflicts and private companies constructed railways at the beginning, which mainly remained as regional railways. In 1907, the main railways were nationalized by military policy⁴. Then Japanese National Railways remained as the public corporation until 1987, when it became Japan Railways (JR Group) with 6 companies for passenger purpose. Today JR Group is the prominent railway that covers the whole national territory with 20.135,3 km. There are 198 railway companies including JR Group itself and the total distance of rails recorded in Japan was 35.544,8 km in 2012⁵

On the other hand, Japan is famous for its bullet train called Shinkansen (新幹線). It appeared in 1964 when the Tokyo Summer Olympics were held. It took 3 hours and 10 minutes for a Tokyo – Osaka with 163 km/h in those days but it shortened a lot and now it takes 2 and half hours with 207 km/h⁶. Shinkansen covers the Japanese islands except Hokkaido and Okinawa running 2.620,2 km as seen in the Figure 1. 324.442 thousands people used the Shinkansen in 2012, equal to 888.882 passengers per day⁷.

Today, thanks to the presence of the Shinkansen and the network of local trains, it is easy to access the 47 Japanese prefectures: 1 metropolis (Tokyo), 1 circuit (Hokkaido), 2 urban prefectures (Osaka and Kyoto) and the other 43 prefectures.

Fig1. Map of Shinkansen and major JR railways from Japan Rail Pass⁸

Ekiben, the boxed meal for railway trips

Ekiben is defined in the Japanese-language dictionary Daijirin published by Sanseido as “a boxed meal sold at a railroad [train] station or inside the train. Ekiben is an abbreviation of Ekiuri (駅売り, station-sold) and Bento (弁当, boxed meal).” The first Ekiben has appeared in 1885 at Utsunomiya station situated 110 km north of Tokyo. It was a rather simple one wrapped in bamboo leaf and it contained two rice balls seasoned with salt and sesame, and some Daikon radish pickles⁹. Boxed meals with side dishes had begun to appear since 1889 but the former style remained the most current until 1930s (Fig. 2).

A scene of railway and Ekiben can be reconstructed from the novels and reviews of those days. Let’s look at an example of Sanshiro, the novel written by Soseki Natsume in 1908. Sanshiro is the name of a young student from the southern island called Kyusyu and he takes the train for Tokyo to start his study at University of Tokyo. A scholar of Japanese literature Fujimori analyzes the description of Ekiben in this novel and assumes from the side dish of fish appearing in his boxed meal that Sanshiro might have bought it at the station of Maibara, 110 km north of Osaka¹⁰. This side dish was sweetfish (Plecoglossus altivelis) cooked with soy sauce and sugar and it was the specialty of Lake Biwa, along which Sashiro’s train passed. Fujimori cites the contents of Ekiben at Maibara station from a volume of culinary review Syokudouraku published in 1905 and, according to this review, Maibara station’s Ekiben was consisted of grilled egg, Kamaboko (蒲鉾, cured surimi), sweeten beans, cooked chicken, cooked sweetfish and white rice. It is described as not putrid but it did not taste especially good. The box of those days was made of thin wood and bamboo leaves or cast-iron plant (Aspidistra elatior), used to separate the side dishes to avoid the tastes to be mixed and to be served as antiseptic. Usually there were vendors who came to the train to sell the Ekiben through the windows (Fig. 3). There should have been also a dining car in Sanshiro’s train since it had appeared in 1899 but he never tried it. The above-mentioned culinary review Syokudouraku describes one of the lunch menus of the dining car as follows: soup, three dishes, sweet, fruit, bread and coffee for 1 yen. There was also a à la carte menu including “ham and eggs” (ハム・エンドエツグス) for 25 sen¹¹, “sandwiches” (サンドウイツチ) for 20 sen, bread and butter for 5 sen and coffee or tea for 10 sen. The occidental style as seen in these menus was fashionable and seen as status symbol of the intellectual at that time¹² but it could not be allowed for the young student like Sanshiro who ate Ekiben of 15 sen.

Fig. 2. Ekiben at its early stages¹³                               Fig. 3. Vendor of Ekiben at 1950s¹⁴

Ekiben developed with the expansion of railways and stations and since many stations had their Ekiben with regional specialities, it became a pleasure of the railway trip. It is difficult to know exactly but presumably 3.000 types of Ekiben are sold today ¹⁵. The price is normally between 500 yen and 1,500 yen. The wooden box and bamboo leaves have been replaced gradually with plastic and paper ones. The kiosk and sales onboard became more popular than the vendors because of the structural change of trains: they stop at the station for a very short time and windows are always closed now¹⁶.

Meanwhile, the diffusion of this Ekiben phenomenon should be thought in the culture of boxed meal consumption in Japan. The boxed meal is called Bento (弁当) in Japanese and it also gave its name to the Ekiben (from Ekiuri-Bento as we saw). Its origin is not clear but seems to date back to the late 16th century. It was a portable meal for Samurai to go to war or for the elite to view the flowers in Spring or autumnal tints in autumn at outside banquet¹⁷. From 17th century, it became more popular and it was brought for travelling, theater or work. Today, Bento culture is still common for Japanese people. Students bring the home-made Bento for junior high school or high school and some bring it also for the office. It is always welcomed for picnics or trips. In this context, Ekiben was easily accepted as an extension of Bento boxes. As to the boxed meals for rail trips, we can say that it was accepted by Japanese mentality that found it an efficient use of the time too.

Some examples of Ekiben of today

Makunouchi Bento (幕の内弁当) is the representative boxed meal that is seen almost in every station where Ekiben is sold¹⁸. The word Makunouchi (幕の内) means between the acts at theater. It dates back to the Edo era (1603-1868) when the popular theater like Kabuki became common amongst  people and both the audience and actors had taken this boxed meal between the acts. The first appearance of Makunouchi Bento for Ekiben was in 1889 at Himeji station, 90 km west of Osaka, and we can see its image reproduced by the producer (Fig. 4)¹⁹. Usually Makunouchi Bento contains white rice and different kinds of little sub-dishes like fried egg, Kamaboko (cured surimi), grilled fish (salmon or mackerels) or chicken, fruits, vegetables and sometimes specialities of the place. An example of the speciality in Makunouchi Bento of today is that of Obihiro station, situated in the northern island of Hokkaido. This island is famous for salmon, potato and maize and they are used in its boxed meal. Another example is that of Niigata station, which is at the end of the mainland. Since Niigata is famous for rice cultivating and it faces Sea of Japan, its Ekiben contains the Niigata rice and seafood products.

Fig. 4 First Makunouchi Bento by Maneki-ya²⁰

Ekiben with pottery container (Tokiiri Bento, 陶器入り弁当) is a genre of Ekiben for which pottery container is used. Many production areas of pottery and porcelain exist in Japan and their products have been used for Ekiben containers since the 1950s²¹. The first pottery Ekiben was Touge no Kamameshi (峠の釜飯) sold at Yokokawa station in Gunma prefecture, 130 km north of Tokyo, in 1958²². It is still in production as seen in Figure 5 and the model of the vessel is the pottery kettle to cook the rice. Even though the electric rice cooker replaced it in many Japanese families today, this vessel can be reused to cook the rice at home. Hipparidako (ひっぱりだこ) is another example of the pottery Ekiben sold at Nishi Akashi station in Kobe prefecture, close to Osaka. Akashi is famous for octopus and the pottery vessel is designed as an octopus pot for gathering them (Fig. 6)²³. Pottery Ekiben contained often rice cooked with soy sauce, meat or seafood, and vegetables. Pottery vessel is heavy but it can be a souvenir of the trip and it can be used also as container of stationeries.

Fig. 5 Touge no Kamameshi²⁴                               Fig. 6 Hipparidako²⁵

Western and Chinese (洋食中華) Japanese are open and positive to the introduction of foreign cuisines and many styles are absorbed in Japanese eating habits, for example Western, Chinese, Thai, Indian or Italian. It may owe to the government policy of 19th century when the country opened its border and it began to soak in foreign cultures. These foreign cuisines are also reflected in Ekiben. For example, Shumai Bento (シウマイ弁当) as seen in Figure 7 was born in 1954 at Yokohama where one of three famous Chinatowns in Japan are situated²⁶. Syumai are Chinese pork dumplings but now they are commonly consumed at Japanese family tables too. An example for western style is the steak Ekiben of Kobe station (Fig. 8). Kobe beef is one of the famous Japanese beef but it may be so expensive that the beef used for Ekiben cannot be always Kobe one. Anyway, the Steak Ekiben looks luxury and it is sold in several stations in Japan where beef production is famous in the area.

Fig. 7 Syumai Bento²⁷                                                            Fig. 8 Steak Ekiben²⁸

Enlargement of Ekiben out of railways

The mean of transportation is now diversified and it is not only train but also car and air plane which are commonly used. Around the year 2000, Japanese airline companies began to sell the boxed meals called Soraben (空弁). Sora means air and ben is from Bento. It took the idea from Ekiben and applied it to the air trips. The appearance of Soraben was also due to the cut of meal offer on airplanes. It is usually smaller than railway boxed meal since the table on the air plane is relatively small and sometimes the same Ekiben is sold for air plane trip. On the other hand, it gave a possibility to promote the regional speciality also for Okinawa, the most southern island in Japan where there is no railway in the area. The culture of Okinawa was influenced by Japan, China and Taiwan from its geographical position and it was also under the control of U.S.A. after the Second World War until 1972. Therefore, an original cooking culture has been raised in this southern island and its presence in Soraben should be surely interesting.

Ekiben is so well known and familiar to Japanese that not only do people travel for seeking these boxed meals but also Ekiben from all over Japan reach consumers, for instance, by the occasional events which supermarkets organize. Figure 9 represents the publicity of an Ekiben fair held in a chained supermarket of Aichi prefecture on the 30th and 31st March 2013. It is made as a ranking list and it compares some Ekiben between eastern and western Japan. The champion of eastern Japan is seen at the upper left and it is a mix of some seafood, egg and vegetables from Hokkaido. The one of western Japan is at the upper right and it is a type of Sushi with cherry salmon in bamboo leaves from Toyama. The second place in the middle, the boxes with some crab and rice are indicated for both eastern and western Japan. The third position at the lower left is for eastern Japan and there are an entire cooked squid stuffed with rice and some grilled beef tongue with rice. At the lower right, there are Sushi with different fishes rolled with Kaki leaves and rice cooked with octopus in a pod as mentioned above . Within two days of this publicity, there are presented and sold 30 kinds of Ekiben from 18 prefectures.

Fig. 9. Publicity of the occasional sales of Ekiben at a Japanese supermarket

Conclusion

In the small box of Ekiben, you can encounter several Japanese recipes generally eaten on the territory, specialities of the regions and some new Japanese tastes influenced by foreign cuisines. It is the gem of casket in which you can find a diversity of Japanese cuisine. Trains that connected the territory didn’t summarize the various tastes to the “national” one but it served to promote the variety of “regional” products and cuisines. Since this boxed meal has already gone out of railways to be presented independently for another kind of trip or supermarkets, who denies that you may encounter an Ekiben also in your country in the near future?

Bibliography

∴ Fujimori, K., (2003). Receipe of Soseki (Soseki no Recipi), Tokyo, Koudansya.

∴ Hayashi, J., Kobayashi., S, (2000). Lesson for Ekiben Studies (Ekibengaku Kouza), Tokyo, Syueisya.

∴ Ishige, N., (2001). The history and cultures of Japanese food, London, Kegan Paul Limited.

∴ Kobayashi, S., (2005). The Comlete Book of Japanese Ekiben (Nippon Ekiben Taizen), Tokyo, Bungeisyunjyu.

∴ Koizumi, T., (2002). Wisdom of Japanese toward foods (Syoku to Nihonnjin no Chie), Tokyo, Iwanami Shoten.

∴ Kojima, H., (2010). Railway as Culture (Tetsudou toiu Bunka), Tokyo, Kadokawa Gakugei Syuppan.

∴ Nakanishi, T., (2010). Genesis of Japanese Railway (Nihon no Tetsudo Souseiki), Tokyo, Kawade Syobo Sinsya.

More to see

♦ Chinese New Year

Asian New Year delights : a Chinese legacy

06 MARS 2016 | SOPHIE RAOBEHARILALA

Last February has started with New Year celebrations in Asia as well where the Asian diaspora can be found around the world. Many Chinese parades with costumes and music, parties with great feasts were taking place. We are familiar with the recurrent indicators of Chinese celebrations such as red and gold colours decorating the cities, dragons marching down the streets surrounded with dancers. But if Chinese traditions are widely known for this occasion, curiosity pushes us to have a look at China’s neighbours. The influence of the Chinese culture has been large over the centuries and it is fair to say that similarities can be noticed in festivities amongst East Asian countries :

“ One measure of the range of a civilization is the spread of a common calendar. Europe adopted the Gregorian calendar, and North Africa and West Asia adopted the Islamic calendar, so that the religious holidays fell on the same days throughout the respective cultural spheres. Likewise in East Asia, calendars based on the same fundamental principles were adopted in Japan, China, Korea and northern Vietnam, thus defining a single sphere of civilization”.[1]

We will therefore have a brief look at New Year celebrations in Japan and in Taiwan.

Japan

The celebration of the new year in Japan is called oshôgatsu starting from the 31st of December and lasting until the 3rd of January. Japanese culture is closely related to food. Festivities are always an occasion to prepare and eat a large variety of meals. Different ingredients are used according to different celebrations and occasions. As Michael Ashkenazi states,

“Virtually all of the  main national holidays are marked by special foods. Of them all, the most sumptuous are the special foods of the New Year. Other holidays are also celebrated with colorful and unusual foods, each of which has its own symbolic meaning”.[2]

Like in many religions in Asia, honoring deities starts with offerings, most of them being money and food such as uncooked rice. This tradition applies to shrines in Japan : when an offering is made, a small cup of saké is received in return as good luck for the start of the new year.

Since this part of the year is hosting the most important celebration of all, the feast is prepared days if not weeks in advance. Therefore it is not unusual to find cold dishes on the table. One exception remains : ozōni, a soup prepared specifically for the occasion, which brings strength.

If ingredients are thoroughly selected according to their symbolic and the seasons, their colours also have a key role:

“Foods colored red, white or gold are preferred : succulent taï fish, mounds of red-and-white- rice cakes and golden ginko nuts, sometimes stung on pine needles”.[3]

The Japanese are very well known for being able to create harmony. It is without any surprise that the container is as thought-through than the contents. Indeed the most exquisite and expensive china is used in this occasion together with red lacquer bowls, and baskets. Furthermore, the tradition sees the food packed in a lacquered box with three trays called jûbako decorated with an indication of the season. The first tray is usually filled with seasonal foods such as black beans (symbol of health) boiled in syrup (sweet being the symbol of an easy year, as are sweet potato and sweet chestnuts), kazunoko (symbol of fecundity). The second tray contains seafood and sansai (wild vegetables), marinated octopus, squid. The third tray contains vegetables seasoned with soy sauce and sugar, bringing back the sweetness and again an easy year.

If the feast is in the plate and on the table, it also is in the house with decorations made of rice and other ingredients.

“The New Year is the time to consume special foods (oseichi), to decorate the entrance of houses with cut green bamboo poles wrapped in straw rope and decorated with pine branches and oranges (kado matsu), […]. The green of the pines and bamboo represents the family’s hopes for renewal; the straw rope, (…) circumscribes the end of the year; and the many seeds of the Japanese oranges (daidai) represents growth and fertility as does the daidai, a pun on “many generations”.”[4]

Another decoration is Mochi cake. Made of mochi-gome (glutinous rice), it symbolises purity. Mochi cake shaped in a circle can be found on shrines or inside the home to celebrate a fresh start for a new year.

“These cakes are called kagami mochi and are named after the mirror (kagami), which is one of the sacred treasures of Japan, the other two being the sword and the jewel. The rice cake is the essence of sacred rice itself, its spirit or soul”.[5]

The Japanese usually celebrate New Year’s Eve with family and the first day of the year with friends.

Taïwan

Taïwan follows the Chinese New Year festivities religiously. Like in Japan, preparations have started weeks before the celebration period. This is a yearly opportunity for the Taiwanese to get the family together and enjoy a multi-generation moment.

Taiwanese traditions related to food do not only resume to a great meal and decorations, it has a major role in beliefs and religion. Sugar is used as a link between the people and deities. Indeed celebrations begin on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month as it is believed that on this day various gods ascend to heaven to pay their respects and report on the family to the Jade Emperor, the supreme Taoist deity. Tradition is to smear malt sugar on the lips of the Kitchen God to ensure that he either submits a favorable report to the Jade Emperor or keeps silent.

The large choice of dishes during the festivities have been selected wisely according to their symbolic and similarities in sound with words of good luck. For instance, fish (yu) symbolises money, fish balls (yu wan) and meat balls (rou wan) symbolise reunion, garlic chives (jiu cai) for everlasting, turnips (cai tou) represent good omens, shoe-shaped gold dumplings (shui jiao) are bringing money. The sea cucumber also carries an auspicious meaning, for it is pronounced haishen, the shen sounding like sheng or “give birth”. The word chicken is a homonym for jia or family therefore it is common to find a whole chicken on the table as a symbol of starting a family, thus asking for blessing and prosperity in the year just arriving. Lucky refreshments are also prepared at this time, such as glutinous rice flour pudding (niangao), which is said to make people “advance toward higher positions and prosperity step by step”. When it comes to having the meal, ingredients are stir-fried together, “including vermicelli and bean sprouts, coriander leaves, celery, Chinese cabbage, and other assorted vegetables chopped into thin slices. Soy sauce and sesame oil may be added when this dish serves as a cold dish”.[6] For dessert we can notice again the importance of rice in the Asian culture with a selection of bu bu gao deng or “step by step ever higher” desserts. Brown-sugar New Year sticky-rice cakes or red-bean New Year sticky-rice cakes called “year cakes” or niangao symbolise an ever higher year. The Taiwanese also eat fagao, a steamed sponge cake which refers to the expression yilu fa meaning “prosperous all the way.” As for perfect happiness, it can be found in sweet glutinous rice balls and deep fried taro-and-jujube balls!

Conclusion

This short trip around festive Japan and Taiwan allowed us to notice the importance of the role of food in Asian cultures. Food offerings are made to shrines, home altars and families, key ingredients and dishes are linked to deities and beliefs, and finally colour codes are recurrent around the Eastern part of the continent. The importance of rice and food in general stresses the fact that food is used as a mean to convey messages with deities, bringing to it an entire new function than just of nourishing people. As for the influence of Chinese culture, not only has it spread if we take a close look to similarities in traditions and symbolism, but it also carried on with a few twists depending on the country’s food habits.

Bibliography

∴ Ashkenazi, Michael, Food culture in Japan, CT : Greenwood Press, 2003.

∴ Cheung, Sidney, Tan Chee-Beng, Food and foodways in Asia : resource, tradition and cooking, Routledge 2007.

∴ Ishige, Naomichi, The history and culture of Japanese food, London : Kegan Paul 2001.

∴ Mannur, Anita, Culinary fictions : food in South Asian diasporic culture, Temple university press, U.S 2009.

∴ Department of Information Technology, Taipei City Government, The Wonderful Auspicious Food Tastes of the Lunar New Year [http://english.gov.taipei/ct.asp?xItem=1101608&ctNode=49659&mp=100002]

Main Ingredients

♦Tofu

♦Abura-age

♦Goma-dofu

♦Kyoa-dofu

♦Yuba

♦Fu

♦Natto

♦Konnyaku

Seaweed ingredients

♦Konbu kelp

♦Wakame sea greens

♦Arame

♦Nori

♦Hijiki

Eating like a 600 years old Japanese Buddhist monk is gastronomic

8 NOVEMBRE 2015 | PAR SOPHIE RAOBEHARILALA
 

Japanese cuisine is well-known in the West for its refined healthy and delicious qualities. Culinary terms such as tempura, soba, maki, tofu are common knowledge to many and have even appeared on our menus. What initially was considered as an alternative for vegetarians became as highly praised as French cuisine around the world. However, little are aware of its origins, going back to 13^th century Buddhism and temple cooking. Indeed Japanese cuisine illustrates perfectly food heritage transmission over the centuries for very little changes have occurred in the techniques and ingredients.

In order to understand the profound link between everyday food and religion, we will first have a look at the evolution of religion in Japan.

Japan and Buddhism

Buddhism was introduced in Japan during the 6^th century with the arrival of Chinese and Korean immigrants who were practising in their homes. Eventhough Buddhism originated from India, certain forms had been slightly transformed and adapted by China, essentially the Māhāyānā¹ doctrine, which arrived in Japan. The Sacred language of Japanese Buddhism was therefore literary Chinese. It is only recently that the translation of Sacred writings into modern Japanese has occurred.

Two main zen schools of Buddhism emerged in the country during the 13th century : the Rinzai² school which was the key factor to a Chinese influence on the Japanese culture, especially in the nobility sphere ; the Sōtō³ school which appealed more to samouraïs because of its simplicity and sobriety. We will focus on the latter for the Sōtō school is the main influence in Japanese cuisine.

The Sōtō school (Sōtō-Shū) was founded by Dōgen⁴ who was introduced to zen teachings by Eisai, followed by a thorough practise of Sōtō during four years in China. Dōgen chose to diffuse his zen knowledge in Eihei-ji monasteries around the country. His major work Shōbōgenzō⁵ has become a milestone in Japanese Buddhism. Thus it is during the 13^th century that zen Buddhism had its advent along with zen cuisine. Further on the Edo⁶ era saw zen practices spread in nearly every home of Japan for Buddhist temples had a great influence in society.

During the 18^th century and the Edo era, when Kyōtō was the capital city of the empire the city comprised an important number of temples which were the meeting-points and sources of knowledge for the Japanese elite and great minds.

Zen principles deeply became part of Japanese everyday life. When it came to eating, zen cuisine was the reference.

« Monks have used their religion to create a cooking style which would convert the most unyielding non-vegetarian »⁷.

Temples served Shojin-Ryori⁸ cuisine which materialised the link between Buddhist teachings on compassion for evey form of life and vegetarism. There is a strict protocole to preparing and eating a meal, seen a form of Shugyo⁹.

Preparations and variations

In a Buddhist temple, the task of cooking is assigned to the Tenzo (or zen cook). This function is given to enlightened masters seeking for the Awakening. Dōgen has written a collection of rules dedicated to the Tenzo’s practices, which have been included in the Zenonshingi (monastery’s regulations). In temples ingredients are provided by donations from the community. The Tenzo must therefore consider and treat them with the utmost respect for not only are they a product of the Earth but they are also a gift from others. As a result, the benefits of the ingredients and of their treatment will be passed on to the eater who will reach a new step in harmony and zen. The protocole requires the establishment of a menu by the temple’s administrators who have to deliberate on the flavours selected and the preparation of the meal. The Tenzo must find the right balance between the Six Flavours (bitter, sour, sweet, spicy, salty, bland) and the Three Virtues (flexibility-lightness, clarity-freshness, care-precision). The protocole also states that food preparations are to be done before midnight and cooking after midnight.

Shōjin Ryōri is cooked with water only and includes food taboos such as meat, crustaceans and fish, alcohol and the five herbs from the lily family (onion, garlic, leek, shalot, scallion), considered as stimulating. This cuisine is based on season vegetables : in Spring new sprouts are on the menu, in Summer we found green leaves, in Autumn more fruits and nuts, and in Winter it will be roots. The use of vegetable oil quite low in fat is common, especially sesame seed oil. Sesame seeds and nuts are rich in lipid and are often used as a base for sauces complementing vegetables. The use of wheat gluten (fu) also compensates the absence of animal protein. Broth is prepared with konbu (edible kelp), and dried mushrooms. The use of dried mushroom is thought through as the liquid extracted from its rehydration is used for soups whereas the rehydrated mushroom itself is cooked in other preparations. Shōjin Ryōri ingredients are soft and nutritional but without much taste. This explains the addition of different kinds of tofu (yuba and nattō) to enrich the taste.

Initially during the Edo era, Shinjō-Ryōri cuisine was prepared during monthly or annual ceremonies in honour of the deads. Vegetarian meals were regularly served during this week. However tea ceremonies also had Shōjin Ryōri cuisine, better known as Kaiseki Ryōri. But if this cuisine started to appear in homes for specific occasions, it rapidly expanded to everyday cuisine. Parishioners went to temples for cooking lessons and advice in order to feed the family following this regime. The popularity of such cuisine also comes from its ingredients : not only is there a wide variety of ingredients used for preparations but Japan has an abundant source of vegetables, cultivated as well as wild.

If zen cuisine has a protocole for preparing, there are also ways of serving the meal. Initially monks used to eat their food in individual bowls, sitting on the floor. With the enthusiasm for zen cuisine, visitors were invited to take part to monks’ meals, which lead to a service on honzen¹⁰.

During the 17^th century appeared a new style of zen cuisine : Fucha Ryōri. Introduced by a Chinese monk named Ingen, the cooking wasn’t based on water but rather on oil as ingredients were fried, then deepened in a starch stock to bring some consistence. This cooking has much in common with modern Chinese cuisine sù cài¹¹. Most of the preparations’ names come from Chinese words. When Shōjin-Ryōri is taken on the floor with individual bowls, Fucha Ryōri is taken at the table and served in a shared dish. Fucha Ryōri remains a vegetarian cuisine and it is eaten whilst drinking tea.

When looking at today’s Japanese cuisine, we recognise ingredients and preparations from both Shōjin Ryōri and Fucha Ryōri. Meat and fish have been added to the menu and preparations but techniques and recipes have barely changed. The religious approach of this cuisine might not have remained fully, but the harmony of flavours, the benefits of ingredients on the body, both leading to the harmony of Japanese people with their land certainly contributes to the perpetuity of this cooking-style, so much so that it is admired and praised in the West as highly gastronomic.

Bibliography

 ∴ Naomichi Ishige, L’art culinaire au Japon, Nîmes : Lucie éditions, Février 2012

∴ Soei Yoneda, Zen vegetarian cooking, Tokyo : Kodansha International, 1998

∴ Dogen, Les enseignements du maître zen Dogen : Shobogenzo zuimonki, Vannes : Sully, 2012

∴ Kiyoshi Hayamizy, Japon: les grandes traditions culinaires, Time-Life, 1995

∴ François Macé, Histoire de la cuisine à Edo, les livres de recettes et la culture gastronomique, Tokyo : Chuo Koronsha, 1989

∴ Fujii Sotetsu (Zen Buddhist priest), Article Culinary Fundamentals – Shojin Ryori, http://www.shabkar.org/vegetarianism/index.htm