Japanese cookery tradition

Japanese cookery tradition is one of the most original in the world, and if the one from Europe decides to estimate it at it?s true worth, he or she is about to get many surprises. The bases of the Japanese cuisine are rice, fish, vegetables and products of the sea. Rice is Japanese bread, one can?t think of the Japanese table without it. The culture of rice cultivating became a part of national ideology Shinto: the attitude to rice is sacral. The cultivation of this crop demands a lot of collective handicraft, they say, that the custom of big families living in one house and doing all work together is related mainly with this fact. Most of the traditional holidays and festivals also are directly related with the rice cultivating. There is also a national rise month. You can see all the depth of this crop?s role in Japanese culture only from the name of the holiday. Mostly, Japanese eat rice without any flavoring, oil and even without salt. They say, than it has a rich taste even without that. The example of adding to rice any flavorings is soshee. For this dish cooks use prepared vinegar flavored rice with sugar.

Some dishes, popular today in Japan, in the beginning originated from European cuisine, and now they area part of national property. Among them there is a very popular as a light snack "chicken yakitori" ? that is a chicken prepared on a split. Bamboo sticks or splits with beaded peaces of Japanese onion, pepper, chicken liver and brisket, flavored with souse, are put on the grate and prepared on open flame.

Typically Japanese and at the same time the most exotic for the visitors dish is sasymy. One can taste it almost in every Japanese restaurant or hotel. It is not long to prepare sasymy: it is only peaces of fresh fish and products of the sea, which one eats dipping them into the soybean souse. There are several modifications of this dish, for example, ekydzokory, live fish, beautifully stacked on the table and cut in such way, that it is possible to take the peaces of it with the steaks for meal. The dish is decorated with the red peaces of Japanese tunny-fish, white slices of just sliced squid, shrimps and mollusks. Often sasymy is served with local onion, cucumbers, mint, Japanese radish and horseradish.

In Japanese cuisine there are many traditional dishes made of flour. Oodon ? wheat flour noodles ? are usually used to prepare soup with onion and species. The modification of such soup is kezune oodon ? they put gold fried peaces of soybean cottage cheese in it. Soba ? buck flour noodles ? is eaten as a separate dish with a soybean souse cold or hot. Sometimes this dish is used for preparing salads.

A great role is also played be religious prohibitions: Japanese comparing with Europeans and Americans eat far more less beef and pork, adipose, butter and milk products ? Buddhism forbids to kill and eat animals.

We must say, that Japanese cuisine is rather poor on species. Instead they accentuate the natural smell and taste of the nature products: fish, sea products, vegetables, rice, soybean and beans. The highest art of the Japanese cook is keep the natural freshness and taste of the components in every dish. Because of this cuisine depends greatly on seasons. What Japanese eat in summer, they wouldn?t eat in winter. If there is a choice between frozen food and fresh one, Japanese would prefer fresh and even better ? the freshest. Big attention is paid to the appearance of the dish. Japanese do not consider food a food if it isn?t served and presented well (including the decoration and certain order of the dish components); the dishes for the guests are not selected well; and if the taste of the food isn?t good enough. To enjoy the taste means to estimate and to apprehend the harmony of all components. Any dish must be beautiful but with the simple and moderate beauty not garish and obtrusive, and the master?s task is to realize it. The one, who eats must feel the mood of the dish and conceive it correspondingly.

All the dishes in Japanese cuisine are prepared directly before the meal and clients can watch the process. Because of the Japanese cuisine?s minimalism the natural taste and smell of the dishes is stressed only with soybean souse, wasaby, ginger and lemon.