Kaiseki

Kaiseki (懐石) or kaiseki-ryōri (懐石料理) is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. The term also refers to the collection of skills and techniques that allow the preparation of such meals, and is analogous to Western haute cuisine.

There are basically two kinds of traditional Japanese meal styles called kaiseki or kaiseki-ryōri. The first, where kaiseki is written as 会席 and kaiseki-ryōri as 会席料理, refers to a set menu of select food served on an individual tray (to each member of a gathering). The second, written as 懐石 and as 懐石料理, refers to the simple meal that the host of a chanoyu gathering serves to the guests before a ceremonial tea, and is also known as cha-kaiseki (茶懐石).

Origin

The kanji characters 懐石 used to write kaiseki literally mean "bosom-pocket stone". These kanji are thought to have been incorporated by Sen no Rikyū (1522–91), to indicate the frugal meal served in the austere style of chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony). The idea came from the practice where Zen monks would ward off hunger by putting warm stones into the front folds of their robes, near their bellies. Before these kanji started to be used, the kanji for writing the word were simply ones indicating that the cuisine was for a get-together (会席料理). Both sets of kanji remain in use today to write the word; the authoritative Japanese dictionary Kōjien describes the "cuisine for a get-together" as a banquet meal where the main beverage is sake (Japanese rice wine), and the "bosom-stone" cuisine as the simple meal served in chanoyu. To distinguish between the two in speech and if necessary in writing, the chanoyu meal may be referred to as "tea" kaiseki, or cha-kaiseki.