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Food & Tea Tea Confectionery 茶 茶人: Shen Su 食 For centuries, people have shared sweets with tea. And no culture refined the art of tea confectionery more than the Jap- 甜 anese. In this article, Shen elucidates the history and kinds of Japanese sweets for tea, discusses the way we use sweets at 點 the Center and leaves us with some advice for how to offer a snack or a sweet to our guests after hosting a tea ceremony. 之 Japanese sweets for tea also invite us to explore the way that a Chajin learns to focus on details and make their tea prepara- 美 tion into self-cultivation through mindfulness and presence. hen you start pursuing an them, and how many opportunities for Food Service & Tea art like tea, it is difficult practice they offer us! After all, food W to imagine the breadth is amongst the most important med- and scope at the outset. For me, this icines we will take on any given day, Long ago, the foods served with tea has been the case with many aspects fueling our paths! Beyond that, tea and would have been nuts and fruits and of a life of tea. For example, I had no food represent hospitality everywhere. other small, simple snacks. The key idea just how important it was going In a tradition founded upon hospi- word here is simple. “Kaiseki,” a Japa- to be to learn how to cook and clean tality and service, it should therefore nese word meaning “meals for tea,” was in order to properly learn how to serve come as no surprise that food and tea originally a very simple service of food. tea, in the larger sense of serving. were eventually paired together in cer- It was typically a light meal served at But ours is a tradition of service, and emony; one medicine complementing the beginning of or during a formal while we do learn how to brew tea, of the other, delighting the senses and tea gathering. “Kai” means “stomach/ course, our priority as Chajin (tea peo- awakening us to presence and lov- chest” and “seki” means “stone” which ple) is to learn how to serve. And that ing-kindness. And what better type of comes from a time when samurai or becomes all-encompassing, down to food to complement tea in ceremony, Buddhist practitioners would press a the last detail. In fact, as I progress, I especially when it is bitter tea, than a warm stone against their stomach to realize that it is the minuscule details delicate, subtly sweet confection? As stimulate energy in the digestive area in that are the most important details to with so many aspects of culture, the order to alleviate hunger and coldness. pay attention to. Too often, the things Japanese took this tradition and fo- It therefore represented a meal simple that we write off as negligible, one cused tremendous soul and concen- enough to barely alleviate hunger. It later finds, can change everything! The tration on it, sparing no detail with usually consisted of small portions of larger, more obvious aspects of serving regards to sweets for tea. What I am rice, pickles, soup, fish, and even rice guests and cultivating a tea practice only just learning, the Japanese have wine. Over time, however, kaiseki de- take care of themselves, naturally fall- long understood, and that is the impor- veloped into something so complex ing into place. It’s the little things that tance of details. But before we dive into and refined that it can even be stud- we then have to focus on refining. And the details of sweets and snacks served ied as an entirely separate discipline, I believe this applies to any discipline. with tea, we can briefly look back at completely distinct from the tea cer- I never could have imagined just how some of the earlier forms of tea snacks emony, and only carried out success- important the meals at our Center are, and their development into the highly fully by professionals who have stud- how much time and energy goes into refined confections of our modern day. ied the art of kaiseki for a long time. 37 Food & Tea One important trend during the de- tea are a type of wagashi, but not all bean paste and designed elegantly to velopment of kaiseki was an attention wagashi are a type of sweet for tea. The suit the season. to detail and the artistic layout of extensive world of wagashi has changed In the same way that a chaxi (tea the food when served. Not only was a lot over time and has been influenced stage) is designed to honor the guests each ingredient carefully chosen, but by China and Europe, which has re- and occasion by considering the season the food, and the temperature of the sulted in many different ingredients and weather, so too, tea confections food, were suited to the season. Even and production methods. Traditional- are delicately sculpted to represent a the temperature of the utensils used to ly, however, they were made from three seasonal motif. And similar to chabana eat the food was carefully thought out, main plant-based, local ingredients, (flowers for tea), wagashi should suit among many other details that went such as grains, sugar, and beans, espe- the theme of the tea ceremony but not into the creation and layout of kaiseki cially red beans. And before sugar was distract from the tea itself. This also in- cuisine. introduced from China and Europe, cludes the dishware and utensils used Japanese confections were prepared to display the confections. Some motif with other natural plant-based sweet- examples are plum blossom confec- Wagashi: eners. In general, these types of con- tions in the spring, maple leaves in the Japanese Confections fections often fall into two categories autumn and bush clovers in the winter. based on their moisture content and An important part of wagashi is As the Japanese tea ceremony be- production method, namagashi (fresh how we perceive them. A good wa- came highly refined and ritualized, so or moist confections) and higashi (dry gashi engages all five senses. While it too the sweets served in those ceremo- confections), with less than 10% mois- might be obvious how they delight our nies had to meet the same standards ture content. Nowadays, they are often sense of taste, sight, touch and smell, of refinement. This is where the at- made using ingredients such as rice, a well-designed confection should tention to detail developed in kaiseki flour, sugar, miso, beans, yams, roots, invoke a sound associated with the neatly found its way into the service of herbs, flowers, gelatin, jelly, nuts, seeds motif. In other words, it requires a sweets for tea, including Japanese con- and sprouts. Many of the fresh sweets little participation on the guests’ part fections, often called “wagashi,” which with a higher moisture content that we to hear the rustling of autumn leaves just means Japanese traditional sweets are most familiar with are made using or the wind whistling through cherry and isn’t necessarily specific to tea. You mochi, steamed and pounded gluti- blossom trees, or to recall a poem at- could say that all Japanese sweets for nous rice, often encasing a sweet red tributed to that particular season. General Kinds of Wagashi Namagashi (生菓子) Jō namagashi (上生菓子) are the most common These are “wet” confectioneries, with a moisture con- sweets for tea. These are soft and delicate, often made tent of 30% or more. of mochi (pounded rice) and filled with a sweet bean paste. They change to reflect the season and/or occa- Han namagashi (半生菓子) sion. They come in the shapes of flowers, leaves and These are “half wet” confectioneries, with a moisture other artistic homage to Nature. content of 10-30%. Yaki mono (焼き物) are baked confections, probably Higashi (干菓子) introduced through Western influence. These are “dry” confectioneries, with a moisture con- tent of less than 10%. Hiranabe mono (平なべ物) are cooked in a dry pan. Mushi mono (蒸し物) are steamed confections. *Each of the three types of confection can be made into the following sweets. (There are also several oth- Age mono (揚げ物) are fried confections; again in- er kinds not mentioned here): fluenced by the West. Ōbun mono (オーブン物) are baked in convention- al ovens. Ame mono (あめ物) are candy-like confections. 39/ Tea Confectionery 上 生 菓 子 Jō namagashi are the perfect tea sweets. They are full-favored and yet the aromas and flavors pass quickly, and none of the soft bean paste clings to the palate or teeth. 品 味 當 季 Food & Tea Wagashi used for tea should also like our weekly whisked tea ceremo- be complementary to the tea session. nies in the Zendo, we serve them out- Part of this means they shouldn’t be side the tea space, after the ceremony overly sweet, too sticky or chewy, or is concluded. But we still do our best have a strong, lingering aftertaste. Be- to suit the sweets to the occasion and 接 sides suiting the season, they should be season, and to choose the most appro- abundant and enjoyable when eaten, priate, refreshing confection we can and then quickly pass on without leav- find, or make! ing a trace that will hinder the guests’ ability to enjoy the flavors and aro- 觸 mas of the tea that follows. Like any Chinese Tea & Food element in a well-designed chaxi, the way confections for tea stimulate our Though this article focused more senses should never overshadow the on Japanese confections, Chinese tea main focus of the gathering: the tea.

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