A Shogunal Banquet

Of course I would submit a food-related blog on Thanksgiving.


Shikisankon.


In 1630, Tokugawa Iemitsu made a Shogunal visit to the daimyo of Satsuma, Shimazu Iehisa.

As was the custom, the banquet kicked off with shikisankon, "The Three Formal Rounds of Drinks." The drinks were, of course, sake, and they were also accompanied by a variety of snacks. Listed below are the snacks offered:

Round 1
Pheasant served on a tortoise shaped dish
Rice cake soup
Salt

Round 2
Grilled salt-cured fish
Grilled hawk's wing" (actually sea bream which resembled the wing of a hawk.)
Dried Cod

Round 3
Dried salted mullet roe
Whole grilled young sea bass
Dried rolled squid

The shikisankon was followed by the banquet itself. This was when everyone got down to business!

The banquet was in a style known as honzen ryori, "main tray cuisine." This included one main tray which was surrounded by a soup and side dishes as well as additional trays, each surrounded by their own soup and side dishes.

This particular banquet included three trays. Their contents are listed below:

Main Tray
Grilled salt-cured fish
Octopus
Fish-paste cake
Fish salad
Hot water over rice
Pickles
Fish flavored in sake
Fermented intestines of sea cucumber
Salt

Second Tray
Dried salted mullet roe
Jellyfish
Gathered soup
Servings of Mollusks
Rolled Squid
Dried codfish
Swan soup

Third Tray
Fowl served with its wings
Carp soup
Turbo
Spiny lobster
"Cloud Hermit" soup

The banquet was finished off with a nice desert course of the following:

Ice rice-cakes
Tangerines
Persimmons on a branch

So how do you think Iemitsu and Iehisa made out? Some of the dishes sound pretty good, but I think I'll be sticking to my traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

Further reading if you're interested:

This is a good read on what currently constitutes a modern day honzen ryori.