- Anderson, Jennifer L. An Introduction to Japanese Tea Ritual. Way of Tea
- "CHANOYU- Japanese Tea Ceremony." The Diplomatic Insight
- Harris, Phyllis L. "Chado: The Way of Tea: A Japanese Tea Master's Almanac." Asian Pages:
- Okakura, Kakuzo. The Book of Tea
We started out with a light meal called kaiseki. "Kaiseki" can be translated to "stone in the robe," and refers to the simplistic meal of rice, soup, and meat/vegetables that Zen Buddhist monks consume before tea. The concept comes from the fact that these monks do not live with Air Conditioning or heating, so they would put heated stones in their robes on cold winter days. It has connotations of this simple, humble lifestyle, which is important in tea ceremony. There are no specific types of foods included in kaiseki; it would depend on the host what comes onto the plate.
Next, we started on our okashi of the day: matcha mame. Literally, this means "matcha beans," and tasted like a peanut enveloped in a crispy biscuit, with a layer of matcha chocolate on the outside. See the picture below:
Please stay tuned for more videos and posts on this topic, and I hope you enjoyed this summer segment!
Until next time,
justajae