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Traditional Kaku-Mochi being kneaded and cut into squares on a wooden board

Traditional Kaku-Mochi – glutinous rice kneaded and cut into squares.
Image generated by ChatGPT (© 2025, used with permission).

Basic Recipe – Kaku-Mochi (Traditional Japanese Square Rice Cake)

Context: Kaku-Mochi, or square rice cakes, form the heart of O-zoni (Rice Cake Soup), served at the 2019 Crown Tournament Feast. These rice cakes were a symbol of prosperity and endurance, reflecting both samurai field traditions and the ritual importance of rice in Muromachi-period Japan.

Find of the Week

This week we’re highlighting something extra special: a 1,000-Year-Old Italian Sourdough Starter. In medieval and Renaissance Europe, sourdough was the main way to leaven bread long before commercial yeast — so this lets you bring a taste of true period practice into your own kitchen.

👉 Try the Italian Sourdough Starter

✨ Last Week’s Pick

We don’t want you to miss this gem either! The Medieval Monk’s Blend Seasoning adds an instant touch of historic flavor to any dish, sweet or savory.

👉 Medieval Monk’s Blend Seasoning

Weekend Spotlight

Autumn is here, and with it comes the joy of putting up fruit for the colder months. This weekend we’re shining a light on two freshly updated recipes that show how preservation was practiced in the late medieval and early modern kitchen:

Elizabethan Orange Marmalade – Hannah Woolley’s Queen-like Closet (1675) teaches us how to turn oranges, apples, and sugar into a luxurious marmalade once reserved for the wealthy. I made mine with blood oranges, and it vanished almost immediately among taste testers!
To Dry Peaches – From The Forme of Cury (c. 1390), a simpler, earlier preservation method. Drying fruit was practical, delicious, and perfect for adding color and sweetness to a feast board.

Together they show the spectrum of fruit preservation: from everyday dried fruit to the most fashionable banquet marmalade. Both make wonderful largesse or feast-table offerings.

Olive wood honey pot – perfect for serving marmalade.

Serve marmalade in an olive wood honey pot with a matching spoon for a rustic, period-inspired touch.

Basic Recipe – Kaku-Mochi (Traditional Japanese Square Rice Cake)

Basic Recipe – Kaku-Mochi (Traditional Japanese Square Rice Cake)

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