[Sca-cooks] Japanese breakfast

[Elaine Koogler]

I don't think it was that chickens in particular were sacred.  It was more a
reverence for all life that's part of Buddhist beliefs.  But for the most
part, Japanese cuisine was pretty much limited to fish and veggies.
However, in the Ryori Monogotari, there are recipes for all sorts of wild
birds, including pheasants and others.  The Ryori is the closest thing, as
far as I know, to a period Japanese cookbook.  I do believe that Lady
Solveig has stated that there is an earlier one, but so far she has not
shared it with us.

Kiri

On Mon, May 11, 2009 at 6:00 PM, Ian Kusz <sprucebranch at gmail.com> wrote:

> Why were chickens considered sacred?  According to what belief system, or
> is
> it just the ever-present and sometimes-vague, "folklore?"
>
> I don't recall hearing about this in anything I've read on either Buddhism
> or Shinto....
>
> On Mon, May 11, 2009 at 6:09 AM, Elaine Koogler <kiridono at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Actually, the statement is pretty accurate...the Portuguese introduced
> > western foods in the 16th century, and there is, in at least one period
> > cookbook, a recipe that utilizes western techniques.  The second
> reference
> > is to when Admiral Perry opened Japanese ports near the end of the 19th
> > century...and, because there were more westerners in Japan, their foods
> > followed.
> >
> > The only questionable statement has to do with beef which, prior to Japan
> > become almost entirely Buddhist, was allowed.  Then, as time went on, it
> > was
> > still eaten occasionally when people could get it...claiming it was for
> > medicinal purposes!  And this was done by the priests and monks, but by
> the
> > nobility as well.  As was the case 'most everywhere in the world, the
> poor
> > ate mostly grains, veggies and the fish they could catch.  This all comes
> > from Ishige Naomichi.  *The History and Culture of Japanese Food.*
> >
> > Kiri
> >
> >
> > >>
> > >> Johnnae
> > >>
> > >
> > > This was the part that caught my eye:
> > >
> > >  Western foods made inroads into the Japanese diet during the 16th
> > century,
> > >> when Portuguese traders introduced eggs. (Until then, chickens had
> been
> > >> considered sacred, so neither they nor their eggs were eaten.) By the
> > end of
> > >> the 19th century, people all over Japan had begun embracing even more
> > >> Western foods, like beef (which had also been banned for the previous
> > 1,200
> > >> years)...
> > >>
> > >
> > > I'd never heard either of these before.  Has anybody else?  Any idea
> how
> > > true these assertions are?
> > >
> > > Sandra
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>
>
> --
> Ian of Oertha
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