Download - Brainshare Public Online Library

An array of methods was employed by early twentieth-century
culinary reformers, and by middle-class housewives themselves, in order
to accommodate foreign elements into the Japanese home menus. The
easiest way to achieve an innovative character in a meal was to combine
Western and Japanese dishes in their forms close to the original. In the
example below, which derives from the alumni magazine of Japan Women’s
College, the eclectic character is achieved by including grilled fish as a
component of a Western-style breakfast: 47
breakfast
Pear jam with cream
Grilled fish
Bread
Coffee
Meals with a Western structure were unusual in early twentieth-century
Japanese homes, and therefore considered more exclusive than meals
with a Japanese structure. Consequently, they were often suggested for
Sunday menus.
The ‘rice–soup–side dishes’ pattern that had for long prevailed in
the urban diet dominated the reformed home cooking of the early twentieth
century as well. However, the number of side dishes was enlarged and
their variety increased through the incorporation of Western and hybrid
Japanese-Western dishes. Even minimal innovations, such as spicing up
the simmered vegetables with curry powder or serving an omelette with
ketchup, had a considerable modernizing effect.
The making of Japanese home cookery was basically a process of
trial and error; hundreds of recipes that were invented in the early decades
of the twentieth century vanished without a trace. Only a handful became
deeply rooted in Japanese homes, acquiring the status of hallmarks of
Japanese home cookery. It is impossible to determine why certain experimental
dishes succeeded and others failed. Generally speaking, wide availability
and low price increased the chances for acceptance of the ingredients,
while the need for special equipment, such as an oven, was clearly an
impediment to a recipe ’s popularity. As I explained in chapter Two, a
spectacular growth in demand for onions, cabbage and potatoes, which
had been generated by Western-style restaurants and cafeterias, resulted in
a steady fall in their prices. It is, therefore, not surprising that these vegetables
were most extensively used in the economy-conscious middle-class kitchens.
Beef and pork were incorporated chiefly because of their nourishing
106