Kamaboko history

[sangfisk]

I'm tracing the origin of kamaboko - and the sources. What is there to know?

I have also heard that a Fujiwara minister served kamaboko/chikuwa at a party in his new Villa in 1115. Does anyone know more about this? Hoew could I describe sucha a party and the food? (muzukashii!)

[sangfisk]

Hmm.. maybe I should try once more, being more precise. (and then give up...) Besides searching any trace of kamaboko in Japanese cuisine and history, I try to imagine how a high rank meal, banquet in the late Heian time (1115) would be. Would the guest be seated separately being served dish after dish, what room in the would be used? , would some part of the food preparation(for instance the grilling) take place in the room, would the consume of alcohol loosen things and ranks up after a while? Would the meal be accompanied by music/dance? Are there good written sources on this? (I recently had the pleasue to meet TV-chef and food scholar Ayao Okumura in Nara prefecture, but accidently we didn't have time to talk about all the subjects I wanted to. A real pity)

[Saionji Shonagon]

The Gaki Zoshi scroll from the late Heian period includes a depiction of a banquet. Tray tables with numerous small dishes are set before the male guests. One man is playing a biwa, a woman a koto and a third woman a hand drum. (The hungry spirits are sneaking around the banquet unseen).

www.tnm.jp/gallery/search/images/max/C0016933.jpg

Saionji

[solveig]

Noble Cousin!

Greetings from Solveig!

sangfisk said:

searching any trace of kamaboko in Japanese cuisine and history

Why are you trying to date kamaboko? As I recall, kamaboko was served in Konichian shortly
after it was constructed. However, that is the early 17th century. The authors of "Shokubunkaron" (ISBN 4-7679-1428-0) appear to date kamaboko on page 48 to about 1489 or thereabouts.

Similarly, Nagayama dates kamaboko to the Muromachi period on page 84 of "Nihon Kodai Shokujiten" (ISBN 4-88721-330-1).

would some part of the food preparation(for instance the grilling) take place in the room

Grilling in the room would be unusual for banquets. This sort of thing is not depicted in the
various picture scrolls. However, certain meals might be consumed "robata" (next to the
hearth) especially in peasant homes. Now then, artistic cutting of food was a speciality and
was the special province of the Shijo family. In Confessions of Lady Nijo, we encounter
a member of the Shijo family being compelled by the retired emperor to perform his art
for a banquet despite having taken Buddhist orders.

would the consume of alcohol loosen things and ranks up after a while?

While alcohol was a standard part of banquets and did loosen both the tongue and spirits,
its consumption had a number of ritual aspects which were observed. If you look carefully
at the Gaki scroll already posted, you will note that while everyone has a sake saucer, only
one person has a sake dispenser. It is the small cast iron utensil which resembles a tea pot
sitting in front of the Biwa player.

Would the meal be accompanied by music/dance?

That depends entirely upon what you consider a meal and what sort of meal it is. For example, music and dance are often associated with flower viewing parties.

Are there good written sources on this?

How good is your Japanese?

Your Humble Servant
Solveig Throndardottir
Amateur Scholar

[sangfisk]

!! Suddenly things happened!
I love the scroll and the spirits.
To answer Solveig back: I saw that kamaboko had a a story to tell and that no one else would tell it. A story about Japanese kamaboko should of course be told by someone with better knowledge about Japanese, Japanese food and food culture than me. But I see the link between the fish stick of Heian or Muromachi Japan and the crabstick in the fridge in my own fjord village grocery. So the story will be about kamaboko origin, consume and development and the industrialisation, americanisation, the French way, the scientists, the globalisation, the imitation etc. (Flavour, fortunes and transformation.) To run such a project, you do not have to be Japanese, but insane. (But I think I have have to go back for New Year and Osechi-ryori)

You seem to be reliable and I suppose the sources are as well. Dr. Ayao Okumura also mentioned that there were sources from the Muromachi period. On the other hand some Dr. Wataru Shimizu(within food science, nutrition) accomplished a research on the kamaboko history 15-20 years ago. He found a text written in 1672, written by a person in charge of protocols in the Edo Shogunate government. Recording old times cooking menues, this clerk mentions a party held in 1115 in the new villa of a Fujiwara minister. And the documents include a drawing of kamaboko/chikuwa. I understand that the minister/regent should be Fujiwara no Tadazane. (And accordring to Wikipedia (!) he had a new villa, Fukedono, built in 1114)

I cannot rely on Wikipedia, and the timespan between 1115 and 1672 is troublesome. On the other hand, I'm a storyteller and not a historian. In Japan the incident in 1115 is reckoned as the starting point by many, and it is also the background for the "Kamaboko day" 15. of November(the 11. month) To me it seems natural to mention the 1115 meal. I want to make it live, but I will also draw attention to the realities concerning the sources. Maybe I'm wrong, and for sure I want as much and as reliable information as possible.

My Japanese can help me finding the train station or prevent me from starving at the yakitori. Reading documents or books sems by now way to difficult, but if there are sources of great value to my project, I have a friend who can help me. I am Norwegian and will write the story in Norwegian and pray for translations...

Solveig also sounds very Norwegian, but Solveig Throndardottir may be more Icelandic. No matter what, we're of course cousins.

And no matter what the outcome of this will be, thank you both for wonderful food and great serving . Now I will look at your answers once more.

Your Noble Confused
Hans Morten (Sundnes)

[sangfisk]

(Personally I could like to stay in old Japan, but I don't think the story will let me.)