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The style is known nowadays under the name kaiseki, but the term
itself did not come into general use before the second half of the nineteenth
century. 58 Kumakura Isao, a leading scholar of chanoyu, explains that the
fundamental principles of kaiseki were developed by the renowned tea
master Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591), the founding father of kaiseki, but the
style kept changing after his death. For example, a meal served by Rikyū on
one of his tea gatherings in 1590 consisted of rice, soup with vegetables and
sea bream marinated in sake, followed by broiled salmon and fresh tōfu. 59
Today, a conventional kaiseki meal consists of the following courses:
First course: rice, soup, mukōzuke (vinegared dish or sashimi)
Second course: simmered dish in hot broth (nimono)
Third course: grilled dish (yakimono)
Fourth course: ‘special dish’ (shiizakana)
Fifth course: soup (suimono)
Sixth course: pickled vegetables, a jug with hot water 60
The main distinguishing feature of kaiseki was its sequential character.
The style established a set of courses that were served in a carefully timed
sequence, each item being brought to the table at its optimum temperature.
As Kumakura explains, kaiseki attached significance to the sentiment of
hospitality conveyed by the food rather than to how luxurious it was; it was
supposed to reflect a sense of the season and sensitivity to human feelings.
‘To serve well-prepared foods with consummate timing, so that hot foods
can be eaten hot and cold foods cold – this was its very natural (yet
extremely ambitious) aim; the issue of quantity, etiquette, and style simply
followed from that goal.’ 61
Kaiseki revolutionized the sixteenth-century conventions of formal
dining in Japan, which were characterized by sumptuous flamboyance,
with lavish quantities of food arrayed simultaneously in a dazzling
ornamental display of several small tables (the so-called honzen ryōri).
In contrast, kaiseki followed wabi aesthetics, which emphasized the beauty
of restraint, penetrating to the true essence of things to discern beauty
therein. 62 A typical honzen-style banquet included a large quantity of
food that could not be eaten during the course of the meal, and a prominent
place was occupied by food that served merely ornamental purpose.
In contrast, the kaiseki style, influenced by the meal etiquette of Zen
temples, demanded that only small quantities of food should be served.
The menu was limited to allow for better appreciation of the taste of the
food.
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