History of Natto and Its Relatives (1405-2012 - SoyInfo Center

“the total digestible nutrients” of fodder crops. Yet more
than 25 years were to pass “before even a few people
would listen to the word ‘nutrient’ in reference to their own
diet. ‘Roughage’ was a term much used that far back, as
contrasted with such condensed foods as grains, while now
we use the term in talking about human diets.”
“Perhaps we shall some time learn to make the bean
curd of soy beans which the Chinese use so much. I am
hoping to get a precise recipe. The soy bean fl our came into
use some time ago.”
“The medical writers, who for a considerable number
of years have used this bean extensively and written much
about it with recipes,” say that the “yellow soy bean”
contains 35 per cent protein.
The section titled “Soy bean cheeses” contains a long
excerpt from Friedenwald and Ruhrah (1913, p. 124-26),
which states that the most common of these “cheeses”
are natto, tofu, miso, juba [sic, yuba], and shoyu. A brief
description of each is given.
The last section, titled “Home made soy bean fl our,”
again discusses Friedenwald and Ruhrah, “patent soy bean
fl our, mostly known to doctors only,” grilled soy beans,
diabetics, and a recipe for home made soy fl our.
133. Fuerstenberg, Maurice. 1917. Die Soja,
eine Kulturpfl anze der Zukunft und ihre
Verwertungsmoeglichkeiten [The soybean, a cultivated plant
of the future, and possibilities for its utilization]. Berlin: Paul
Parey. 40 p. [59 ref. Ger]
• Summary: Dedicated to the Prof. Friedrich Haberlandt,
who introduced the soybean to Central Europe. Contents:
Foreword. Introduction: The soybean. Ways of using the
soybean in its homeland (East Asia, especially Japan and
China). Shoyu or soy-sauce. Miso (vegetable cheese). Natto.
Tofu of the Japanese or Tao-hu of the Chinese (bean cheese).
The soybean as an oilseed. Soybean meal (and fl our). Soy
as a coffee substitute or extender. Soybean milk. Soy meat
substitutes. Soybeans as a chocolate substitute. Soy rubber
substitute. The utilization of the soybean in agriculture: As
cow fodder. Summary. Bibliography.
Photos show: (1) A fi eld of soybeans (p. 6). (2) A
soybean plant with the leaves removed to show the pods (p.
12). (3) Soy beans and pods (p. 13).
Contains numerous tables, mostly from other sources:
pages 11, 16-17, 19, 25, 27, 30, 35-37. Contains one of the
best early European bibliographies on the soybean.
The author wrote this book during World War I. In
his fi rst book, published one year earlier in 1916 and titled
“The Introduction of Soya, a Revolution in the Food of
the People,” he discussed what he believed to be the great
agricultural and nutritional value of the soybean. He uses two
terms, Die Soja and Die Sojabohnen to refer to soybeans.
Chapter 1 (p. 5-7): In 1908 England started to import
large quantities of soybeans; in 1909 these increased
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HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 79
to 400,000 tonnes and in 1910 to 800,000 tons. Also in
Germany, in the years just before World War I, imports
of soybeans climbed in an unexpected way, reaching
43,500 tonnes in 1910, 90,600 tonnes in 1911 and 125,200
tonnes in 1912. Note: These units are given in dz. One dz
(doppelzentner) = 100 kg.
The fi rst manufacture of soyfoods in Europe took place
in France, at Valees near Asnieres, where they made fl our,
bread, cakes, cheese [tofu], and soymilk (Mehl, Brot, Kuchen
und Käse, vegetabilischer Milch)–though only in small
quantities and, above all, for diabetics. In England, soy fl our
has been used for a long time in the preparation of cakes (p.
5-6).
However it was in Germany that the utilization of
soybeans for food took place on a large scale; this began
shortly before the war. The supply of foods to Germany was
almost completely cut off during the war, so general attention
soon turned to the new foods prepared from soybeans and
people quickly became aware of their great nutritional value.
Thus, in the middle of the war, a soybean industry was
built in Germany. Unfortunately this youngest twig of the
food industry was left crippled due to lack of raw materials.
However one can predict that this industry has a bright
future because of the great encouragement given to these
products in so short a time. For example, in October 1914
the Agumawerke (Aguma Works) located in Harburg (near
Hamburg) on the Elbe, fi rst began mass production of a soy
fl our according to its own process. During the next few years
it made many thousands of tonnes of this meal, until the
production had to be stopped for lack of raw materials (p. 6).
Equally gigantic sales of soy products were made by the
Soyamawerke (Soyama Works) in Frankfurt am Main; this
company made only soy food products. In addition to a meal
(fl our), it also produced a meat substitute (Fleischersatz),
and, largely from soybeans, fresh and dried milk (Frisch-
und Trockenmilch) as well as a fresh and dried cream
preparation (ein Frisch- und Trockenrahm-Präparat).
Likewise, this fi rm had to cease production of most of its
soy products because of diffi culties in soybean procurement,
and concentrate only on the production of meat substitutes
(Fleischersatz). These articles likewise entered all classes of
the population splendidly as is seen from the large demand
for them. Within 3-4 weeks this fi rm had orders for more
than 1½ million pound cans, of which unfortunately it was
able to satisfy only a small part. In addition to these two
well-known fi rms, there are in Germany still a number others
that are occupied with the production of foods from the
soybean.
In Austria [the Austro-Hungarian empire], there exists
a unique fi rm, the food factory Santosa in Prague [in the
Czech Republic as of Sept. 2002], which is still processing
soybeans. They introduced soy coffee into commerce. I
understand that in Austria a large-scale soy processing
venture is now being planned.