Tour

…Up until the Muromachi period, aristocrats and samurai would place a large serving of rice in the center of a tall cup, and line up small earthenware vessels (kawarake) around it, and then add side dishes to them as they ate. The word “okazu” (side dishes) refers to the combination of a large number of side dishes, and the terms “omeguri” and “omawari” are sometimes used to refer to side dishes arranged around the bowl. The side dishes were mostly dried fish and shellfish, salted foods, and salted fish, and if the large serving of rice in the center were replaced with sake, it would become a sake food. …

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Omeguri" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…室町時代までの貴族や武士たちは，高盛飯を高杯の中央に据え，周りに小さな土器（かわらけ）などをいくつもならべ，それにおかずを入れて食事をした。〈おかず〉とは，副食物が数々とり合わされたための称であり，〈おめぐり〉〈おまわり〉と呼ぶところがあるのは，周囲に並べたことのなごりである。そのおかずは魚貝類の干物，塩蔵品，塩辛といったものがほとんどで，真ん中の高盛飯を酒に置き換えると，そのまま酒のさかなになるものだった。…

※「おめぐり」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報