Give it Forth: Adventures in Medieval Cookery

Tsuru no shiru 鶴の汁 (Crane Broth) Picture Courtesy of Avelyn Grene (Kristen Lynn) The samurai considered Crane soup a prized dish and a luxury. By the sixteenth century, it was a necessary served at formal warrior banquets. The recipe for the dish that was served in Iemetsu’s banquet closely resembles a recipe published in the Guide to Meals for the Tea Ceremony (Cha no yu kondate shinan, 1676), written by Endō Genkan (n.d.). Commoners were prohibited from eating crane and other fowl at banquets, it was a dish reserved for the elite. The dish that was served at Crown Tournament is my interpretation from the Ryōri Monogatari. according to Endō Genkan, Crane soup could be prepared with crane that was fresh or crane that had been preserved in salt.  The most important aspect of the preparation was to ensure that each bowl of soup contained one or two pieces of the leg meat of the crane. Tsuru no shiru 鶴の汁 (Crane Broth) Add the bones [of the crane] to broth and decoct. Pre