Foodie - Shokudouraku

This is a cooking novel by Murai Gensai (1863-1927). It was serialized in the Hochi Shimbun newspaper from 1903 (Meiji 36) under the title Kuidoraku (Eating Pleasure). During the serialization, the stories were compiled into books and published as Shokudoraku (Eating Pleasure). The novel is completed with four main volumes (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter) and four sequels, but it should be highly evaluated for its leading role in increasing understanding and interest in Western cuisine during the Meiji period, when Japanese cuisine was the norm. In the novel-like dialogue, the cooking methods for meat and how to distinguish the quality of meat are explained in detail and effortlessly. The autumn volume contains 50 Japanese and Western rice dishes and 50 bread dishes, the sequel, Spring volume, describes the taste of rice and how to cook rice, the summer volume contains 100 fruit dishes, the autumn volume contains 100 fish dishes, and the appendix contains 100 meat dishes. Gensai Murai Yutaka was born into a Confucian scholar and artillery instructor's family in the Yoshida domain of Mikawa (Toyohashi city, Aichi prefecture). He studied in the United States and published many novels and essays.

[Teruichi Koyanagi]

"Shokudoraku" (edited and translated by Murai Yoneko) (1976, Shinjinbutsu Oraisha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

村井弦斎(げんさい)（1863―1927）の料理小説。『報知新聞』に1903年（明治36）から『食道楽(くいどうらく)』の題名で連載され大評判となった。連載中から順次単行本としてまとめ『食道楽(しょくどうらく)』として刊行した。正編4巻（春、夏、秋、冬の巻）と続編4巻で完結しているが、日本料理一色だった明治時代に、西洋料理への理解と関心を高めた指導的な役割は高く評価すべきだろう。小説風の対話のなかで、肉類の料理法や肉質の見分け方が詳細に無理なく語られている。秋の巻では日本と西洋の米料理が各50種、パン料理50種、続編の春の巻には米の味、飯の炊き方、夏の巻には果物料理100種、秋の巻では魚料理100種、付録に肉料理100種が書かれている。弦斎村井寛(ゆたか)は三河(みかわ)吉田藩（愛知県豊橋(とよはし)市）の儒家で砲術師範の家に生まれ、アメリカに留学、小説や随筆を多く発表した。

［小柳輝一］

『村井米子編訳『食道楽』（1976・新人物往来社）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例