Shiizakana is served in the latter part of the meal, after the grilled dish, as an additional course encouraging more sake. The name means a dish pressed on the guest, and it is added at the host's discretion out of a wish to offer more.
Origins
It is not part of the basic one-soup-three-dishes structure, and was organised as a dish the host adds from hospitality. Simmered combinations, dressed dishes, and fried dishes are chosen so as not to duplicate the cooking methods already used.
In practice
The host offers it with a set phrase, and the convention is for the guest to demur and then accept. It is one of the places where the exchange between host and guest is carried out through food, and the ritualised reluctance is part of the form rather than genuine hesitation.
About this article
Edited by the operator of Chaen (a one-person operation) / Last updated:
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Related terms
- Chado (The Way of Tea)chado
The Japanese practice of preparing and serving powdered green tea, treated as a lifelong discipline rather than a beverage ritual.
- Wabiwabi
Finding sufficiency of mind within insufficiency and plainness; one of the root concepts of tea practice.
- Ichigo ichie (one time, one meeting)ichigo ichie
The principle that every gathering is unrepeatable, and should therefore be treated as if it will never occur again.
- Nimono-wan (simmered dish in a lidded bowl)nimono-wan
The lidded bowl served after the first dish; the centrepiece of the meal and the sharpest test of the host's cooking.
- Yakimono (grilled dish)yakimono
The grilled fish course, served from a shared bowl that guests pass among themselves.
- Azukebachi (entrusted bowl)azukebachi
A dish left with the guests while the host withdraws, creating time for the guests to talk among themselves.