Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-09-20
DISYER A Ia JAPANESE.
A Picturesque and. Possibly. Digestibie
Repast In That Land. III

n I1CturebVue % 1fbN'N-'''~
Repast in That Land.
TO an American given to stiff joints
and corpulency Japanese dinner is
tedious experience, especially when
he's used to business lunches and the
like. But il is worth trial and discomtit-
ure IL one Is fortunate enough to be the
guest of rich man, for in Japan hospi-
tality is one of the cardinal virtues. ~.
Western customs and usages have
found their way into many homes of the
wealthy, whose dinners and lunches are
the counterpart of those with which we
are familiar. But real Japanese dinner,
including chopsticks, lacquer trays and
tiny cups,is thing never to be forgotten.
japanese houses are made up of slid
ing screens instead of cur solid parti-
tions, and in summer all are left open, SO
that, seated at dinner, one looks out over
the gardens, seeing the lights Of the city
in the distance, and the scent OF o thou
sand flowers blows In with every breath
Of air.
The guests remove their shoes on entor.
ing the house, and except when provided
with pair Of cotton overshoes must
spend the evening in stocking feet, unless,
happily, the host has an extra pair. The
wife of Japanese gentleman does not
preside at his table unless there are
ladies in the party, but appears with the
| tea and sweetmeats, which always pre-
cede dinner, as do our cocktails and
sherry, &c. She merely greets the guests
and appears again only when tho good
byes are said. Silken cushions are scat
tered about the floor and the guests are
arranged according to rank, for the
Japanese are, of course, great sticklers
for form and ceremony. Little tables,
some six inches high, are placed before
each one and barefooted waiting maids
in graceful and prettily. tinted kimomos
bring in lacquer trays with several tiny
covered 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 to the
floor Chopsticks take the place OF knives
and forks, bat, unlike our weapons Of
attack, are made of wood. They are
never used twice, except family heir
looms, when they are carved ivory OF the
most unique workmanship, as are also
the lacquer trays, bowls and cups. n
The host sets an example by removing
the covers from the tiny bowls, and the
guest, doing likewise, finds an assortment
Of food quite new and generally most dis.
tasteful. Mastering up much skill, one at,
tempts getting the food on chopsticks from
the tables to ones mouth. The first fow
times most of it falls on the floor or on
ones lap. The wretched sticks wnbble
and cross each other as If focused. When
almost desperate the good host is apt to
come to the rescue by suggesting lifting
the bowls, and with the aid of q chop.
stick shoveling the food In, as one would
potatoes into barrel.
In each course there are half dozen
dishes, and the host tells what they are.
First, suimono, bean soup; kuchiteri
chestnuts, boiled and crushed into mush;
kamaboko, fish picked fine and rolled into
little balls and baked sashimi, raw fish
cut into thin slices and covered with ice
This is dipped into rice fauce called soy
and 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 quantities
The second course is small fish boiled
whole. One has chance here to get il
some fine play with the chopsticks; umani
bits OF fowl boiled with potatoes or lotul
roots: a salad of onions, peas and strini
beans, with few leaves of lettuce; supo
mono, sea snails served with egg plan
mashed, and chaman-mushi, thick souJ
made of fish and vegetables, with mush
rooms for relish. a5
The third course is curry of rice ant
picked vegetables; and for fourth ans
final course you have sobo, q sort o
buckwheat vermicelli served with so,
and a sweet liquor called mirin; shirukc
rice cakes, seaweed and confectionery q
! all sorts, which are very sweet and taste
less.
n During the dinner each guest rises an,
.. proposes the health of the host and on
other guest until the whole party is dis
posed Of This custom is rather hard o.
! the guests, for sake is fiery stuff an,
,, goes to ones head more quickly than on
! own brandy. To make matters worse
! after one is drunk the health of oil th
! company, 1t is customary to drink the
! health of the mattresses, who bow theil
: foreheadst TO the floor in acknowledgment
! At the close of the dinner the tabakt
, bon, a tray holding a hibachi with liv,
! Goals in cone of ashes and section {
bamboo for an ash receiver, is put befor
q each guest, and cigars and cigarettes Of
\ passed around. When all is over on
feels very hungry, stiff in the Joints, an
If the dinner has been q largo one, yer
much in need of brandy and soda.
I