Kaiseki

The first, where kaiseki is written as "会席" and kaiseki-ryōri as "会席料理", refers to a set menu of select food served on an individual tray (to each member of a gathering).

[2] The second, written as "懐石" and as "懐石料理", refers to the simple meal that the host of a chanoyu gathering serves to the guests before a ceremonial tea,[2] and is also known as cha-kaiseki (茶懐石).

These kanji are thought to have been incorporated by Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591) to indicate the frugal meal served in the austere style of chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony).

The idea came from the practice where Zen monks would ward off hunger by putting warm stones into the front folds of their robes, near their stomachs.

Originally, kaiseki comprised a bowl of miso soup and three side dishes;[10] this is now instead the standard form of Japanese-style cuisine generally, referred to as a セット (setto, "set").

The basic constituents of a cha-kaiseki meal are the ichijū sansai or "one soup, three side dishes", and the rice, plus the following: suimono, hassun, yutō, and kōnomono.

[12] Casual kaiseki meals theatrically arrange ingredients in dishes and combine rough textured pottery with fine patterned bowls or plates for effect.