Honzenryori - Honzenryori

Authentic Japanese banquet cuisine. In the early Heian period, Chinese-style cuisine and tableware were introduced into Japanese cuisine, and the contents of the cuisine and the ceremonies for how to eat it were somewhat established, but no detailed system had been created. During the Higashiyama culture of the Muromachi period, the contents of the cuisine became more complex, and the methods for how to eat it were more or less established. Food from the sea was eaten first, followed by food from the mountains, fields, and villages, and the honzen banquet cuisine was born.

Honzen cuisine is the so-called Shikisho cuisine, and various styles were created around Shikisankon and Shichigosan Honzen. Shichigosan means seven, five, and three, and the three in Shichigosan Honzen means three dishes, five means five dishes, and seven means seven dishes. Each dish, such as Iken Niken, contains several dishes, so there are quite a few dishes. Honzen cuisine became extremely complicated in the mid-Edo period, and reached its peak during the Bunka and Bunsei eras (1804-1830), when Edo culture flourished, and was carried over into the Meiji period as it was, but it gradually became simpler, and some of the form was retained until the Showa period, and now only the name remains, and even if the name Honzen is used, there is no trace of the past.

Originally, the main meal consisted of Shiho, Sanho, and Kyuozen. Shiho was a plain wooden meal tray with holes on all four sides, and was reserved for nobles. Sanho is a tray with holes on three sides, and is still used today. Kyuozen is a tray with no holes on any of the four sides. Menus vary depending on the number of soups and side dishes, such as one soup and three dishes, two soups and five dishes, two soups and seven dishes, or three soups and eleven dishes. The order of serving the food is as follows: first, the main meal is placed in front of the guest. The main meal is placed with miso soup in the front right, rice in the front left, namasu (raw fish) on the far right, and tsubo (a dish of boiled vegetables) on the far left, with pickles in the center. The second meal is placed to the right of the main meal from the guest's perspective, the third meal is placed on the left, the second meal is placed to the right of the main meal, the third meal is placed on the left, the third meal is placed to the right of the main meal, and the fifth meal is placed to the left of that. Between the second and fifth meals, a whole grilled fish is placed, called the Mukōzume of the main meal. In this way, the tray sections numbered as the second tray and the third tray could be as many as 15 trays at a time, but the numbered tray sections come with different soups, called the second tray clear soup and the third tray clear soup. Trays without these are called side trays and are not numbered. The main tray section in the late Edo period was replaced by a lacquered high-legged tray rather than a sanpo or kyouou tray, and tableware also became mainly lacquerware. The height of this tray was about 35 centimeters, but those of lower status used an even lower type such as the Sowa tray.

For the honzen meal, manabashi and saibashi were used side by side, the former for fish, shellfish, and birds, and the latter for vegetables. In the tea ceremony, which sought to simplify things, chopsticks were made thin at both ends to serve both manabashi and saibashi. As they were invented by Sen no Rikyu, they are still called Rikyu chopsticks today. In honzen cuisine, one first takes a sip of the soup, then a bite of rice, then a bite of the raw fish, and then more rice, so one mouthful of rice is always taken between each dish. After the honzen meal is finished, the banquet begins, but the etiquette for eating honzen is complicated and varies slightly depending on the school and the era. Fukusa cuisine is a simplification of this, and the even simpler kaiseki cuisine is now representative of Japanese cuisine.

[Tetsunosuke Tada]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本の本格的な供応料理。平安朝の初期に中国風の料理や食器などが日本料理のなかにも導入されて、料理の内容や食べ方の礼式がややできあがったが、細かい体系づくりはできていなかった。室町時代の東山文化のころ、料理内容は複雑になって、食べ方の方式もいちおう確立した。まず海の物、次に山の物、野の物、里の物の順序に食べることになり、供応料理の本膳が登場した。

　本膳料理とはいわゆる式正(しきしょう)料理であり、式三献(しきさんこん)、七五三本膳を中軸として種々の形式のものができた。七五三とは七本立、五本立、三本立の意で、七五三本膳の三とは式三献で膳が三つ、五は五献、七は七献まで出すのである。それぞれの一献二献などという膳には数種の料理が含まれているので、かなりの数の料理になる。本膳料理は江戸の中期にはきわめて複雑な供応料理となり、文化・文政(ぶんかぶんせい)（1804～1830）の江戸文化爛熟(らんじゅく)期に大成し、そのまま明治時代に引き継がれたが、しだいに簡素化され、一部の形態を保って昭和になり、現在は名称だけが残り、たとえ本膳の名称を用いていても昔日のおもかげはない。

　初め本膳には四方、三方、供応膳を用いていた。四方は四方に穴のあいている白木の食膳で、貴人専用に用いられた。三方は三方に穴のある膳で、いまも用いられている。供応膳は四方にまったく穴のあいていない膳である。献立は汁と菜の数によって、一汁三菜、二汁五菜、二汁七菜、三汁十一菜など種々ある。配膳の順序は、まず客の正面に本膳を置く。本膳は右前方にみそ汁、左前方に飯、右向こうに膾(なます)、左向こうは坪といって野菜の煮物などで、中央には香の物を置く。二の膳は客からみて本膳の右側、左側は三の膳、本膳の右向こうに与の膳、その左手に五の膳を置く。与と五の間には本膳の向詰(むこうづめ)といって、魚の姿焼きが置かれる。このように二の膳、三の膳と番号のつく膳部は、多いときは十五膳も出るが、番号付きの膳部には二の膳の吸い物、三の膳の吸い物といって内容の違った吸い物がつく。それがない膳は側膳(わきぜん)といい、番号がつかない。江戸後期の本膳は、三方、供応膳ではなく、塗り物の高足膳にかわり、食器も漆器本位になる。この膳の高さは35センチメートルぐらいであるが、身分の低い者はさらに低い宗和(そうわ)膳などを用いた。

　本膳には真名箸(まなばし)と菜箸(さいばし)を併置し、前者は魚貝鳥類などに、後者は野菜などに用いた。簡素化を求める茶道では、箸の両端を細くして、真名箸と菜箸の二役をさせた。これの考案者が千利休(せんのりきゅう)だということから、いまでも利休箸とよばれている。本膳料理では、まず汁から初めに一口吸い、飯を一口、次は膾を一口、さらに飯というように、料理と料理の間にかならず飯を一口食べる。本膳が終わってから酒宴に移るのだが、本膳の食べ方の作法は複雑で、流派により、時代によって多少の相違がある。これを簡略化したのが袱紗(ふくさ)料理であり、さらに簡単な懐石料理が、いまは日本料理の代表格になっている。

［多田鉄之助］

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