The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1900-07-04
JAPANESE DINNER.
.o,v THE DISTASTEFUL FOOD
| ,s SERVED AND EATEN
natting Before Tables Six Inch
Is High One Wrestles With
ctoostjcks and Tiny Bowls.

r.onsticks and Tiny Bowls.
American given to stiff joints
~ ) corpulency japanese dinner IS a
lu ~. oxpprience, especially when
olo"y ,od TO business lunches and the
put if is worth trial and dis
81 Ae ,e+ure if one is fortunate enough
No the guest of a rich man, for IN
aop hospitality is one OF the cardinal
tues. ,,soaos bovo
'nd their way into many homes or
~ wealthy, whose dinners and
,os are the counterpart OF those
~, which we are all familiar. But
~ 1onanese dinner, including chop
g.. .;nts LACQUER trays and tiny cups, is
thing never to be forgotten.
1anonose houses are made up OF slid
lcrpens instead of our solid parti-
@ns and in summer are all leftopen, so
So+ seated at dinner, one looks out
tho gardens, seeing the lights of
tba city in the distance, and the scent
thousand flowers blows in with
every breath OF AIR.
The guests remove their shoes on
ontoring the house and, except when
rrovided with a pair of cotton over
ihoos must spend the evening IN
stocking feet unless happily the host
hos an extra pair. The wife of Jap
onosn gentleman does not preside at
bis table unless there are ladies in the
rar+v but appears with the tea and
sweetmpats. which always precede a
dinner as do our cocktails and sherry,
OTTO She merely greets the guests and
onnears again only when the goodbys
a are said.
Silken cushions are scattered about
n the floor and the guests are arranged
b according to rank, for the Japanese
q are Of course, great sticklers for form
h and ceremony. Little tables, some six
inches high, are placed before each one
and barefooted waiting maids in grace
ful and prettily tinted kimonos bring
81 in lacquer trays with several tiny COW
d cred bowls.
Before leaving the trays on the
tables they set them on the floor, and
dropping on their knees, make their
best bow, touching their foreheads tC
the floor. Chopsticks take the place
Of knives and forks; but, unlike ou1
weapons Of attack, are made of wood
They are never used twice, unless fam
lily heirlooms, when they are Of carved
ivory of the most exquisite workman
shin. as are also the lacquer trays
bowls and cups.
The host sets an example by remov
ing the covers from the tiny bowls, anC
the guest doing likewise, finds an as
sOrtment Of food quite new and gen
# orally most distasteful. Mastering vi
much skill one attempts getting the
food on chopsticks from the tables t
8 ones mouth. The first few times mos
Of it falls on the floor or on ones lap
The Wretched sticks wabble and cross
each other as if focused. When al
most desperate, the good host is ap
Il
lifting the bowls, and, with the aid of ;
chOpstick shoveling the food in, a
one would potatoes into barrel
In each course there are half a doZel
dishes, and the host tells what the,
are. First, suimOnO, a bean soup
kuchtori, chestnuts boiled and crushed
into mush; kamaboko, fish picked
fine and rolled into little balls and bak
ed; sashimi, raw fish cut into THU
slices and covered with ice. This il
dipped into rich sauce called soy, an(
is really very good. Little cups Of
warm sake, the native brandy made OF
rice, are served with each course. Nap
kinS and bread are unknown guam
titles.
The second course is a small fish
boiled whole. One has a chance here
to get in some fine play with the chop
Sticks-umani, bits of fowl boiled with
potatoes or lotus roots, salad of on
ions, peas and string beans, with a few
leaves of lettuce; sunomonO, sea snails
served with eggplant mashed, and cha
man mushi, thick soup made of fish
and vegetables, with mushrooms for a
relish.
The third course is curry of rice
and picked vegetables, and for a fourth
and final course you have soho, a sort
Of buckWheat vermicelli served with
soy and a sweet liquor called mirin;
&Aruko, rice cakes. seaweed and con
iectionery of all sorts, which are very
sweet and tasteless.
During the dinner each guest rises
ana proposes the health of the host and
one other guest until the whole party is
disposed Of. This custom is rather
a naIu on the guests, for sake is fiery
SvulL and goes to ones head more
quicAy than our own brandy. To
'l"Ae matters worse after one has