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properties, since they still remained relatively expensive. Even if we take
these aspects into consideration, however, it is still difficult to explain why
certain recipes succeed and others failed. The following selection includes
experimental recipes that did not catch on:
Shiso and potatoes roll
Boiled potatoes cut small and rolled in shiso leaves soaked in
plum vinegar. 48
Potatoes and nori roll
Mashed potatoes flavoured with dashi, sugar, and soy sauce
rolled in roasted seaweed (nori). 49
Potato dumplings
Mashed potatoes mixed with cooled rice gruel and salt, shaped into
oval dumplings and boiled. Served with sugar and roasted soybean
flour or in sweat azuki bean soup (shiruko) 50
Crab and tōfu rolled in cabbage leaves
Boiled crab meat mixed with broiled tōfu, wrapped in blanched
cabbage leaves, simmered in dashi with sugar and soy sauce. 51
Onion furofuki
Boiled whole onions served with a sauce made of crushed
sesame seeds, sugar, dashi and miso. 52
Stew with sōmen noodles
Stew made of meat and leeks, seasoned with pepper,
with boiled sōmen noodles cut into pieces. 53
Adding foodstuffs of Western origin to the existing Japanese dishes, often
replacing Japanese foodstuffs that they resembled (for example, substituting
macaroni with Japanese noodles in the above recipe), or cooking them
according to Japanese techniques were the prevailing methods to make
meals appear less foreign. The main objective was often to mask their
unfamiliar taste. This was particularly relevant in the case of foodstuffs with
a very strong, distinctive flavour, such as meat and milk. For example, the
author of an article of 1906, ‘Some new culinary ideas’ featured in the
magazine Katei zasshi (‘Home Journal’) gave readers advice on how to use
Western foodstuffs in an innovative way. Among the proposed novelties
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