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144 C H A P T E R 8 EDO-PERIOD CUISINE The Iemoto of Cooking Food of the Warriors During the Civil Wars In a memo in the possession of the Ikarugadera, a temple near Himeji, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–1598) outlines troop mobilizations in the advance on Himeji, part of a campaign that climaxed in the Battle of Takamatsu (1582). Hideyoshi, who personally led the Himeji attack, was still merely a general in Oda Nobunaga’s forces. He had risen to this position from his origins in rural Owari, and his rustic, unrefined exuberance was still evident at every turn. The memo at the temple was written in wartime, of course, but its scrawled script can hardly fail to surprise the reader. Such scribbling stands in sharp contrast to Hideyoshi’s later calligraphy. During the Korean campaign, he would send beautifully penned letters to his wife from his camp in Kyûshû. One can only wonder when he found the time to acquire such calligraphic skills. From fine brushwork to the luxury of a gorgeous castle compound , Hideyoshi’s tastes, like those of other daimyo, gradually turned aristocratic. But though Hideyoshi and the daimyo imitated aristocratic ways, they still valued the rural home town and exhibited much democratic goodwill. In the tenth month of 1587, for example , Hideyoshi held a grand tea ceremony at Kitano, to which he invited even ordinary commoners. This lavish party included both high and low, rich and poor. A tale recorded in the Jòzan kidan (Memoirs of [Yuasa] Jòzan), published in 1738, suggests that the cuisine of the high-ranking warriors was at first not at all aristocratic.1 Here we read that one Tsubouchi , a retainer and renowned chef of the Miyoshi family, was taken captive around the time of the Miyoshi house’s fall in the 1560s. Several years later, a vassal named Ichihara Goemon reported to Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) that “Tsubouchi is skilled in the cutting of The Town and Country 145 crane and carp, and an expert preparer of banquets and ‘seven-fivethree ’ meals.2 With due permission, I should like to recommend him as a chef.” Nobunaga answered that he would make a decision after sampling the following day’s breakfast. Tsubouchi was immediately ordered to prepare this meal. The next morning, when Nobunaga tasted the fare, he was outraged: “This watery slop is disgusting! The cook should promptly be put to death!” Tsubouchi was terrified and pleaded, “I am entirely to blame, and beg for your forgiveness. Please allow me to serve Your Highness just one more time. If the food again displeases thee, I shall disembowel myself on the spot.” Nobunaga agreed. The following day he found Tsubouchi’s meal indescribably delicious, exactly to his liking. Tsubouchi was promptly awarded an official post and stipend. After this incident, Tsubouchi told Nobunaga that the first meal had been in the style of the Miyoshi house. “But this morning’s fare,” Tsubouchi explained, “was of third-rate cooking. The Miyoshi house controlled Japanese politics for many years, and everything about this family was highly refined. Although your anger was aroused, the food that I served yesterday was of premium quality. Today’s meal, however, was of an unrefined, rural sort, and thus may have pleased you.” Bystanders felt this explanation to be an inexcusable affront; Tsubouchi had gone far beyond the bounds of propriety. Nevertheless , this story shows that in matters of cuisine, Nobunaga embodied the spirit of the day: the low had usurped the position of the high. The likelihood of such a story is confirmed by other accounts concerning Nobunaga. When, for example, he led his army in the surprise attack on Imagawa Yoshimoto (1519–1560) at the Battle of Oke Hazama (1560), Nobunaga is said to have personally prepared the rice to feed the troops. Both Hideyoshi and Nobunaga considered polished rice a luxury and discouraged its consumption. They did not exclude themselves from this ban. Tokugawa Ieyasu, too, was famous not just for advocating a mix of barley and rice as a staple food, but for actually following this recommendation himself. The second shogun Hidetada (1579–1632) continued this practice and went to great lengths to enforce simple warrior manners. When, for example, Hidetada threw a banquet for Lord Ikeda Mitsumasa (1609–1682), he presented only a meager treat of white turnips in soup and roasted dried fish. Daimyo of the day often followed the shogun’s example. Lord Mòri was...

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