●Aesthetic Cooking
There are moments when I feel overwhelmed by looking at a meal
which someone served me because the meal is so beautiful. A
chef also experience similar moments just like the customers,
when he feels acutely satisfied by a dish after he finished garnishing
it. An aesthetically beautiful dish is deemed to be very delicious.
There is no doubt about it. That is why, chefs must continue
to have a renewing feel toward their work so they can be moved
by the beauty of their own creation, which also signifies that
they are doing an outstanding job as a chef. This 'aesthetic'
cooking is of course, not due to the fact that it is decorated
with superfluous embellishment. The food itself has to be beautiful.
Cooking which is so beautiful that it takes the maker and the
observer by a full grasp is; sashimi that has clear cut pieces
that are all arranged neatly, hassunmono that has artistically
arranged food with contrasting color and lastly garnished fresh
green leaves, nimono that has a clear shoyu (soy sauce) colored
niebana (boiled flowers), a bowl that contains translucent soup,
and shining rice of uniform grains that is served in a bowl.
*Hassunmono is a meal served in
a 8 sun(24.1 cm) by 8 sun plain wood tray. The meal is comprised
of two kinds of food, umimono (seafood) and yamanomono (mountain
food) to represent the abundance of food received from the sea
and the mountain. Even though the tray is considerably large,
only morsels of the two kinds of food are served. (Information
on hassunmono - "Tea Ceremony." JAPAN: An Illustrated
Encyclopedia 1 M-Z. 1993 ed.)
There are many more examples but one thing they have in common
is that all they all have a very appealing warmth and texture
which will immediately remind us of different splendid tastes.
●Judging for good cooking
Japanese cuisine is said to taste the meals first by the 'eyes'.
By looking with your naked eyes, we take in the nature that is
used in the meals and the freshness of the ingredients. Because
Japanese cooking methods are kept simple, the process of eating
becomes deeper.
If one gains more experience in eating delicious foods, then
he will develop an appreciation for those images that he will
receive from just looking at meals. Then soon, he will be able
to enjoy tasting with his eyes. Those eyes come in handy when
picking out good, meaning the freshest and the best, ingredients
at markets. In the world of traditional craftsmanship such as
textile, it is said that "if acquiring the skills take ten
years then it would take 15 years to have such an eye for the
job". It definitely is the same for cooking.
●Cooking is Proportion
What is the most important factor when it comes to cooking a
good meal? The answer would be 'proportions'.
In order to cook easier, ingredients are cut into smaller pieces
in the stage of preparation. This process is called 'kiridashi'.
Kiridashi of course is one of the first things to do when on
prepares a food, but at the same time he must think out first
the whole presentation of the meal and must shape the ingredients
right for the individual dishes.
Many aspects of Japanese cuisine are influenced by the fact that
the meals are eaten with chopsticks. Stewed white radish or kakuni
of pork (stewed block pieced pork) can be served in rather big
portion because the softened pieces are easily torn apart by
chopsticks. However, if the pieces are hard to break down then
the pieces should be in smaller sizes that can be carried to
the mouth by chopsticks and is shaped in a bite size. Traditional
Japanese sweets usually are eaten with youji or tools like toothpicks.
No matter how delicious the sweet is, if the sweet crumbles apart
after dividing it into smaller pieces then it is not an acceptable
sweet. A meal is complete when its presentation agrees with how
it is eaten. In cooking, of course, the ingredients' different
qualities, freshness and the varying cooking methods become important.
Individual meals must be in harmony with the dish that comes
before and after them. Such factors like agreeing tastes, strong
or light flavors, and temperature of individual meals are considerable
in a serving pattern because too sharp a contrast or no variation
at all in the menu can spoil the whole course.In addition the
cut out shapes and sizes must also appeal to the eye. Especially
meals like hassunmono and sashimi where diverse ingredients are
assembled on the same plate, pieces of food must be in contrasted
shapes so that the meal would not look monotonous. By diversifying
the forms and sizes of ingredients, like cutting them into circular,
rectangular, and triangular shapes according to different color
and taste in the meal, one can adopt a Japanese sort of rhythm
in the meals that he creates.
This kind of composing work is just like painting a picture,
and the most fun time when cooking a meal. One's expectation
expands and when the finishing product comes out the way one
planned, the rewarding sense is enormous. I now enjoy kiridashi,
and morituke (garnishing, arranging) but in the past things were
quite contrary. When I was an inexperienced cook, I remember
getting petrified when I had to cut and arrange tsukemono (pickles).
I had just had no idea how I should cut them, when I actually
held my knife. Cutting and arranging food involve not just techniques
but imagination, too.
When I was in training I used to get fascinated by a certain
process of making a youkan (or yokan) desert. It exhibited what
shapes and forms, when assembled with some creativity, meant.
A cut piece of mizu youkan (a jelly like confection) is carefully
shaped in to a rhombus with a knife. Then with a rice serving
paddle, the youkan is scooped little by little so different shaped
youkan will be scraped off. Afterwards the spooned pieces of
youkan would be assembled on a cooled silver bowl and then a
green leaf is added. Lastly it is served with a spoon that was
cooled in a iced filled water.Chefs always are very particular
about their cutting technique with knives. For example, sengiri
(julienne) vegetable pieces are cut very thinly and evenly like
a needle. And when cutting food into cubical shapes the sides
had to be precisely 1 cm long.For a long time I also believed
that was the right way. Even when I taught home cooking I had
adhered to those methods because I, too, was a professional chef
and thought it had to be that way.However, when my home cooking
was printed in a cooking magazine, the meals did not have the
homely warmth that mother's endow to their home cooking. It was
indifferent, and cold. Easy meals that the readers can prepare
like kimpira and nimono (stewed dishes) appeared very difficult.
The cooking was so distant. It obviously was a failure as home
cooking. Even after all my experiences I am still troubled by
the difficulty of kiridashi, and the 'proportional' cooking.
On purpose I sometimes leave the ingredients in a heterogeneous
mix, and have tried tearing and snapping them by the hand to
make the meal more appealing. By doing that, not only the appearances
change but also how the meal is enjoyed by the senses.
●The Power of Food
Just the other day, I watched a television show called the "Sunday
Museum" on NHK when they aired "The World of Mrs. Masako
Shirasu", a special program on the late Shirasu Masako.
In the end of the program, they lightly touched on an anecdote
which comically talked of her great appetite. When Mrs. Shirasu
was 84, she dined at a Chinese cuisine. After she finished a
full course she, even though there was enough food, commented,
"There is something missing. I do not feel completely filled".
When others asked what they should order, she answered,"
A whole roasted pig."
The program ended the story by adding what a spirited person
she was. However, I do not think that her last comment had anything
to do with her incredible appetite or her supposed humor. She
probably had to comment in that way, since there were no vigor
and energy in the food that she ate. She must have thought that
for a Chinese cuisine to be authentic, it had to be bountiful
and full of life, which is a very Shirasu Masako-like thought
that reminds one of the Kamakura worriers.
Cooking a whole mountain goat, eating the meat as soon as it
is cooked by scraping it off with a knife and seasoning it with
salt in the vast Mongolian fields. Eating was receiving life
from others and obtaining energy to live on. Eating maintained
healthy bodies and gave joy to living. That was what eating was,
and still is supposed to be.
However, city life, because of the different environment, demand
food with light flavor, controlled sweetness, lessened quantity
and elegant air. And they are valued with a very high price.
In this way, it is clear that cooking and even people will eventually
lose their individuality and strength.
Mrs. Masako Shirasu's comment should have been interpreted as
a criticism toward the recent cooking that has lost its authenticity
of giving life to people who eat it.
|