The term “kaiseki” originally meant a meeting and specifically a meeting of composers of “haiku” poems as it has the same pronunciation as the “kaiseki” used in the tea ceremony. There were originally 2 types of “kaiseki” cuisine, one for a meeting of “haiku” poets and the other for the tea ceremony. But, as people gathering at the poetry meetings were often similar to those gathering at tea ceremonies, the two words were and still are sometimes confused. The “kaiseki” cuisine for the meeting of poets is defined as “kuikiri”, or “eat-out” cuisine, and its purpose is to enjoy the tastes of different recipes without being too much worried about ceremony and formality. The food is served individually at intervals. Recipes are served on individual, small dining tables about 1.2 feet wide without legs. The food is generally composed of “saki-zuke (hors-d’oeuvre)”, “suimono (soup)”, “muko-zuke (a main dish composed of sliced raw fish, etc.)”, “kuchi-gawari (an entr_e to refresh the palate)”, “yakimono (broiled foods)”, “nimono (stewed foods)”, “aisakana (steamed or fried foods)”, “sunomono (food pickled in sweetened vinegar)”, “tomewan (end course)”, etc. But the simplest recipe consists of only three dishes, that are sometimes increased to higher odd numbers such as five (including two soups), seven, nine and eleven. The contents of the menu and the order in which the dishes are served are left to the discretion of the chef.
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