Shinsen kaiseki shippoku shukōchō 新撰会席しつほく趣向帳 [New Selection of Plans for the Tea Ceremony & Shippoku]

One double-page & seven full-page illus. 53 folding leaves. Large 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers (rubbed), orig. block-printed title label on upper cover (rubbed), modern stitching. From the colophon: Kyoto: Nishimura Ichirōuemon; Edo: Suharaya Ichibei, 1771.




First edition. We learn from the Preface (strangely, it is called the Afterword) that the author acquired his knowledge of shippoku and kaiseki cuisines from his grandfather, Yukansai, who was a master of flower arrangement in Sakai. Shippoku cuisine is a fusion of Chinese, Japanese, and Western (Dutch and Portuguese) cuisines, originating in Nagasaki. A primary characteristic of shippoku cuisine is jikabashi, the seating of the diners around one common round table on which the food is served in one dish, with all diners serving themselves "family style." Because of the availability of sugar at Nagasaki, another characteristic of shippoku cuisine is a certain sweetness to the dishes.


The text describes a large number of recipes for dishes, arranged by month and season. The illustrations depict knives, metal chopsticks, serving utensils, decorative tableware (including candelabras), legged tables, teapots and cups, glass drinking vessels, pitchers for serving sake, etc.


Very nice copy, preserved in a chitsu. Unimportant worming at beginning and end.


❧ Eric C. Rath, Food and Fantasy in Early Modern Japan, p. 103.