Date: Wednesday 29th October 1975
Venue: Staff House,
University of Birmingham
Sponsor: Mr Peter Martin
The dinner was held at the Staff House, University of Birmingham, on Wednesday 29th October 1975.
Sponsor Peter Martin
It was sponsored by Mr Peter Martin of the British Council in Kyoto, Japan. He is the author of the Penguin book “Japanese Cooking”. A copy of this book was given to all members and guests present.
Some weeks before the dinner, the secretary had sent to each member a pair of Japanese chopsticks, a diagram and some instructions on their use, so that members could practise and, it was hoped, attain a level of manual dexterity sufficient to enjoy the meal to the full. This act of the secretary’s had, however, some curious side effects. The Club may be divided into eminent members, cautious or observant members and ordinary members. It was the first two classes who had problems. Under today’s conditions it was perhaps unwise to send out curiously shaped envelopes containing long and hard sticks. The eminent had their mail intercepted and in some cases received telephone calls from the police. Their chopsticks were examined by bomb experts. The cautious put their envelopes in buckets of water and sent for the police themselves. No doubt as a result of all this, ordinary members seemed to be the most skillful when the day arrived. Even so, members acquitted themselves well and the offer of forks was taken up by few, if any.
We assembled and drank Japanese whiskey which was excellent, more like Scotch than any other whiskey but lighter. With it we ate biscuits, with small pieces of black seaweed adhering to them and a kind of white string that on chewing, which was necessary, gave out a quite pleasant fishy flavour. This latter may have been dried cuttle fish or perhaps some other substance. This ambiguity about what one was eating was a common experience during the evening.
The first course was a sort of hors d’oeuvres including beans and pieces of cold omelette, but before we began eating our sponsor told us how we should drink. Each person had a tiny porcelain cup for sake. The make was in small porcelain flasks which were on the table. It was not polite to fill. Your own cup, so one offered to one’s neighbours and hoped that they would reciprocate. The secretary believes that they did. The sake was drunk quite warm and was of a strange but delicate flavour.
Next we ate Gingamiyaki or silver paper roast. In our little parcel of foil we found mackerel with cucumber, ginger and radish.
Our sponsor explained that Japanese cooking, like so many other features of Japanese life, was eclectic. It was a mixture of old and new, classical and modern, yin and yang. At the same time Japanese people rush to modern western ways and cling to their old traditions.
We called our attention to the appearance on the menu of the Chinese character sometimes translated “honourable” but pronounced in Japanese as GO or O. It appeared three times before three very important items: menu itself, rice and raw fish – honourable menu, honourable rice and honourable raw fish.
Fish is indeed an essential part of Japanese diet. Until about 100 years ago they ate no meat and no dairy products. The sea and fish permeate Japanese mythology and folk lore. So, in our next course we had honourable Sashimi -raw fish. This dish among all others epitomised another important aspect of Japanese food – the visual. The fish was presented to us beautifully on a rectangular plate with a monument of grated white radish. The fish, tunny, mackerel and sole contrasted in colour and the sole was cut thin and made into the form of a white flower. We ate it with soy sauce and a kind of green sauce – very hot, perhaps ginger.
At the same time was served two other very traditional dishes, Nimono or boiled food and Sunomono or vinegared food. The boiled food was vegetables very gently cooked in a subtly flavoured vegetable stock. It contained carrots, Japanese fungi, Chinese fungi, lotus root and no doubt others we couldn’t identify – the essence of yang – strange, subtle, and delicate. The salad was cucumber, seaweed, crab meat in sweet vinegar. A yin dish we were told.
After this very authentic traditional course, we came to one that was neither, but was certainly genuine by Japanese standards of today. Until the admission of the West in the 1870’s, the Japanese were vegetarians or rather ate no meat. There were certain exceptions: wild boar was known as mountain whale and was therefore permitted. When the Japanese became aware in the 60’s and 70’s of the power of the Western nations, they did everything possible to emulate the West in order to preserve their independence. Many Western ways were copied which were perhaps not really relevant: changing to the English language was seriously considered as was the suggestion that Japanese men should take European wives. The eating of meat was also advocated and introduced. It was believed to increase strength and vigour. Our meat dish was Tonkatsu – a combination of the Chinese word ‘ton’ meaning pork and ‘katsu’ which is a corruption of cutlet. We were given a rather ordinary piece of pork that had been fried in breadcrumbs, served with some lettuce. A genuine Japanese dish, if not particularly interesting or delicious.
We ended however in the traditional Japanese way, an authentic and normal way, even in many Westernised meals: honourable rice, pickles and fermented bean paste soup. The rice, cooked in a way unknown to most of us, was surprisingly easy to eat with chopsticks as it was stuck together in lumps. The pickles were various vegetables lightly pickled and making a refreshing end to the meal but the soup seemed to most of us very curious. We drank it from the bowl as instructed and while its warmth and wetness were agreeable, its flavour and aroma were strange and not instantly attractive. We were told that it was an acquired taste and difficult for Europeans. Most of us agreed.
Finally, we drank green tea.
The Chairman thanked Mr Martin for a most interesting and agreeable evening. He also thanked Mr Okada, proprietor of the Ajimura Restaurant in London, who had himself prepared the entire meal, written the menu in beautiful calligraphy and advised on many points with knowledge and charm.
Mr Okada and his materials, and all the porcelain and earthenware from which we had eaten and drunk were transported from London by our Chairman in his Volkswagen van. Some of the particularly beautiful dishes had been specially made at Mr Okada’s order for our dinner.
We should also thank the Japanese Embassy for the interesting and charming illustrated booklet entitled “Britain and Japan 1600 – 1975” which was also given to all those present.
It was an evening in the highest tradition of the Club combining interest, beauty, good food, strange food and good talk. We are especially indebted to Mr Martin and Mr Okada for an outstandingly agreeable evening.
There were present 46 members and 10 guests and their names are as
follows: –
Guests:
Dr A Bryer
Mr P Martin
Mr S Fujita
Mr K Deguchi
Mr T Oshima
Professor D Lomax
Mr P Green
Judge Sunderland
Mr J Crowder
Mr M Adie
Members:
Col G B Grey
C L Chatwin
P C Hordern
R N Wadsworth
Professor J H Malina
Dr A C Houghton
0 Hahn
N Hawkes
R S King-Farlow
Sir Arthur P Thomson
Sir Michael Clapham
G Scott Atkinson
S T Walker
N L Crabtree
C P Thomson
Professor R E F Smith
J Fane-Vernon
C R King-Farlow
G C Trentham
H G Norton
Dr P Cannon-Brookes
H P Chatwin
R E Moore
Dr. J B P Williamson
W L Barrows
M G Southall
R C Hale
H A L Dawes
M V Manzoni
A C Bryant
Dr R F Fletcher
Sir Timothy Harford
J M G Fea
R W Chennell
A J D Scott
P R Connolly
A Innes
C B King
F Bell-Scott
F E Pardoe
L Hargreaves-Beare
J R Boswell
J P H Walker
I A King
C J E Firmstone
Professor T J B Spencer
