JAPAN’S FOOD CULTURE

By Nakako MATSUMOTO Photos: Consumer Co-operative Kobe

About Spices country’s opening to the outside world and the introduction of Western culture Spices add flavor, fragrance and color and customs, the Japanese began to eat to food and cuisine with their strong beef, but only if it was cooked in aromas, pungent savors and colors. Japanese style and seasoned with soy Some types of spices also act as preserva- sauce. Since they did not accept beef as tives. The hunting tribes who lived on a Western dish, they did not use meat made a great deal of effort to pre- Western spices. serve it by salting, drying, smoking and Shiso and Ginger and negi As Japan achieved high economic other means. Spice was a necessity to growth in the 1950s and 1960s, the remove the smell of meat of wild ani- Japanese rapidly picked up the custom mals and birds and to prevent salted of eating “Western” foods, such as meat, meat from going bad. Toward the end eggs and milk. The knowledge of spices of the 15th century, Christopher came along with them. Women Columbus set sail from Spain, and in dreamed of buying a set of spices, and the 16th century, Ferdinand Magellan having a spice rack became a fad. It was became the first person to sail around only then that the Japanese became the world. In both cases, the major familiar with the names of the spices objective of the voyage was to obtain Sansho that had been introduced earlier in the pepper from India, Sumatra and Java; Meiji period (1868-1912). They also cinnamon from Sri Lanka; cloves from agriculture, the government’s policy acquired a taste for these spices through the Moluccas (the Spice Islands) or nut- emphasized the introduction of Western meals in restaurants. meg from the Banda Islands. The first seeds and seedlings, and farming tech- The spice most liked and used in encounter between Japan and Europe niques. For spices, the Japanese govern- Japan since its introduction in the Meiji was not unrelated to spice, either. ment introduced seeds and seedlings of era is curry powder made by mixing sev- Having opened the Age of Exploration, bell peppers, parsley, , sage, eral spices. It has its origin in India, but spice occupied an important place in chervil, thyme, coriander, watercress, in the 18th century, it began to be pro- world history. However, I need not horseradish and sweet basil. In those duced commercially after being adapted write in detail how spices are used in days, however, these spices had nothing to the palate of English people. It was America and Europe. Here, I will write to do with the diet of Japanese people. brought to Japan in the early Meiji peri- about Japanese spices. They were grown but did not sell well. od. Over the next 100 years, it devel- Since they brought little profit to farm- oped into Japanese-style curry. Today, Japanese Spices ers, there arose a fierce movement “curry rice” is the most popular school- against them and the government was lunch dish among elementary school Japanese people did not eat much ani- forced to withdraw its policy. With the children. mal meat as the country was blessed with abundant fresh food and also Chart 1 The frequency of references to spices in Japanese, Italian, because Buddhism, adverse to eating French & Chinese cookbooks published in Japan animal meat, was introduced. As a result, spices used often in Japan were those that went well with fish, such as karashi (Japanese mustard), (green Japanese horseradish), ginger, red pepper and sansho (Japanese pepper). The Japanese did not use many vari- eties of spices. Following the Meiji Restoration (1868), the government adopted an astoundingly rapid Wester- nization policy, aiming at attaining Western levels as quickly as possible. In Source : Data compiled by author

48 JAPAN SPOTLIGHT • May / June 2008 JAPAN’S FOOD CULTURE

Chart 2 Spices referred to only in Italian & French cookbooks ing, spices play a role in enhancing the “sensory tastiness” of food (tastiness one savors through the senses). In Western cooking, spices were used in a different manner, originally for practical purposes such as removing the smell of or preserv- ing food. With technology for distribu- tion and processing developed, however, spices have come to be used mainly to enhance flavor, and it appears that herbs are often used now to decorate dishes. Note : Of spices mentioned in both cookbooks, the 13 most frequently cited spices are listed (except for garlic and pepper). Getting Used to Spices Not Easy Source : Data compiled by author Types of Spices bean paste soup As a saying goes, “Add spices to unap- seconds before it petizing food.” Spices are effective if used Before describing how Japanese spices is removed from skillfully. However, when it is misused, are used, let me first touch upon the types heat, and shichi- food becomes extremely unappetizing. of spices used in Japan. Chart 1 shows mi (seven-taste) The combination of food ingredients or the frequency of references to different red pepper is dishes with spices has developed over spices in Japanese, Italian, French and sprinkled in it at many years after much trial and error. In Chinese cookbooks published in Japan the table. When Japan, some combinations have taken for the general public. Chart 2 shows the (buckwheat root as the “just right” matches. They spices that appeared exclusively in Italian noodle) is serv- include those of natto (fermented soy- and French cookbooks. Needless to say, ed, tiny strips of Soba with yakumi beans) with karashi, (sliced raw European cuisine uses a wealth of spices. dried seaweed fish) with wasabi, cooked mackerel with More importantly, however, these are sprinkled on the noodle while its ginger, and yu-dofu (simmered bean curd charts show that the kinds of spices used sauce is served with chopped Japanese blocks) with ginger and Japanese leek. in Japan and Europe are completely dif- leek, grated wasabi and grated Japanese I have tried to use spices in making ferent. For that matter, spices used in radish. Japanese-style sweets. Since Japanese love Italy and France cannot be called similar, The Japanese yakumi not only adds vanilla ice cream and bavarois (Bavarian either. Of the spices brought to Japan flavor and fragrance to the dish, but it is cream), I put vanilla in shaved ice and from Europe, the spice that is used most also expected to represent the season and kanten (agar) jelly and tried them. While often in Japan is pepper. Even so, the please the eyes. It is an integral part of vanilla in ice cream and bavarois (both of extent to which it is used in Japan stands food for guests and of food served in tra- which are made with milk) got top marks, no comparison with the heavy consump- ditional Japanese restaurants. Consti- shaved ice and kanten jelly with vanilla tion in Italian or French cooking. tuting typical yakumi are leaves of sansho were disasters. It must have taken an Frequently used in addition to ginger, trees and peels of (citrus junos). accumulation of experiences to find out wasabi, karashi, red pepper and other Young san- that milk and vanilla go well together. As spices are vegetables with pungent tastes sho leaves Western dishes such as salads, hamburgers or strong fragrances, such as daikon (from and stews have become a part of ordinary (Japanese radish), negi (Japanese leek), spring Japanese diet, most Japanese families now shiso (Japanese basil) and mitsuba (honey- through use mustard, pepper and lorier (bay leaves) wort, see the extreme left photo in the summer) as a matter of course. However, as long as title portion). These are all called yakumi and finely the Japanese continue to eat mostly (). They are different from sliced yuzu Japanese dishes, they are unlikely to use Western spices as most of them are used peels (from spices to the extent they are used in the in fresh form while Western spices are Yuzu autumn West. Hence, many of the spices on the often used in dry condition. through winter) are arranged in a tiny rack will remain a mere kitchen ornament While Western spices are used during cone shape at the center of a dish on a for a long time to come. the cooking process, Japanese spices are plate or in a bowl (see the middle left often used as final condiments or table photo in the title portion). In early spices. In Japan, spices and spicy vegeta- spring, when young buds appear on Nakako Matsumoto is professor emeritus, bles are served with food arranged on a trees, sansho leaves are called kinome (leaf Kagawa Nutrition University, where she taught plate or in a bowl to complement the buds) and when the buds grow into from 1966 to 2006. She specializes in food taste and fragrance of the dish to whet leaves, they are called ha-sansho (leaf san- acceptability and her principal themes of the appetite. For example, tiny pieces of sho); a different name for the same thing research have been the history of food in Japan chopped Japanese leek are added to soy- in a different season. In Japanese cook- and Japanese food preferences.

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