In the history of the old Japanese Navy, two famous admirals were regarded as leaders of the rank of god of war, namely Heihachiro Togo and Isoroku Yamamoto, who served as commanders of the combined fleet during the Russo-Japanese And Pacific Wars. However, the military god is not a god after all, but a man, and he must also eat and drink Lazar. So, during the Battle of the Sea of Japan, which determined the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War, what delicacies would Commander Togo eat at the table of the flagship battleship Mikasa? What kind of dishes does he like to eat? This article will reveal it for you.
Chef of the flagship "Mikasa"
Who knows best about the meals and diets of General Togo and his staff officers on board warships? Of course, it was the chef who took the helm of the Mikasa, and some people may be surprised that the chef who cooked for Togo during the Battle of the Sea of Japan was not a soldier. According to records, the head chef in charge of the captain's diet on the "Mikasa" during the Russo-Japanese War was Ishii Nanazo, a professional cook temporarily hired by the Navy during the war. At that time, in addition to Ishii, there was another chef with him who co-made dishes for the personnel of the Combined Fleet Command.
■ The battleship Mikasa was preserved as a commemorative ship and is docked in Mikasa Park in Yokosuka, with a bronze statue of Heihachirō Togo erected in front of the Mikasa.
Ishii's name can be found in the list of crew members of the Mikasa who participated in the Battle of the Sea of Japan, but this person is not included in the list of crew members who participated in the August 1904 Battle of the Yellow Sea, which infers that Ishii only boarded the Mikasa after the Battle of the Yellow Sea to work as a cooker. At that time, in addition to making meals, the civilian chefs hired by the Japanese Navy were also tasked with teaching Western food to naval cooks (known as chefs and chefs during the Russo-Japanese War, and later changed to chief planners). After the Russo-Japanese War, Ishii served as an instructor for a culinary practice course at the Naval Manager School from December 1911 to August 1912, and from his work on the Mikasa, Ishii was very knowledgeable about both Japanese and Western cuisine, and his cooking skills were quite skilled. Ishii Left Behind after the war, he left an oral record of the food and drink inside the Mikasa ship, which became a first-hand valuable material for studying the catering of Naval officers such as Togo.
The delicacy of Marshal Togo
According to later records, Togo Heihachiro was not picky in his diet, was casual with meat, and did not have any special hobbies. His eldest son, Togo Biao, once wrote: "My father was never a picky eater, and he would eat whatever food he ate silently." He doesn't like to cause trouble, and he doesn't ask for it or complain when he usually eats. However, in Ishii Kiyozo's records, Togo takes on a different look at the dinner table. According to Ishii, Admiral Togo also had his favorite dishes aboard the Mikasa, and his favorite dishes were pork Satsuma soup and boiled bitter melon tofu eggs.
■ Portrait of Heihachiro Togo wearing a formal dress after the victory in the Sea of Japan.
■ Portrait of Heihachiro Togo in his later years wearing a marshal's dress.
"Satsuma soup" is a dish originating from Kagoshima, Kyushu, and Togo Heihachiro is a Satsuma clan from the Kagoshima region, so it is understandable that he has a special love for this hometown dish. Satsuma soup is not actually the original name of this dish, but was later introduced to the Tokyo area, and its real name is "Kagoshima soup". The satsuma-making method of making satsuma soup is recorded in the satsuma chronicle of customs in the mid-Meiji period, which was eaten as a banquet dish: "After the pig is slaughtered, the meat is not separated, it is cut into several large pieces, boiled with miso soup with vegetables, and then put into large bowls, barrels, and large bowls, and then presented to the banquet." "It sounds like a South Kyushu-style pig-killing dish. Ishii did not elaborate on the practice of Togo's favorite pork Satsuma soup, which is similar to the same, but it should not be so large.
■ Satsuma soup is one of Togo's favorite dishes and is a regional dish from the Kagoshima region of Kyushu.
It is worth noting that many senior admirals in the early days of the Japanese Navy were from Satsuma Domain like Togo, so there were certainly not a few people who loved Satsuma soup, so this dish entered the Cuisine Recipe of the Japanese Navy very early, such as the 1908 "Naval Cutting cooking reference book" that recorded the use of chicken to make Satsuma soup (Kagoshima soup), and through the promotion of the Navy, this Kyushu local dish gradually spread to all parts of Japan.
■ The replica edition of the "Naval Cutting and Cooking Reference Book" is a reference book for cooking work compiled by the Naval Manager School.
In addition to local feelings, there is also a special relationship between Satsuma Yu and General Togo. During the Sasaki War in the third year of Bunhisa (1863), Togo Heihachirō, who was 15 years old, first entered the battlefield as a samurai disciple. According to legend, Togo's mother, Mashiko, "wore rain gear and took her own-made Satsuma soup to the front line to comfort the soldiers, boost morale, and had no fear in the face of the explosion of the shells, pulled up her black hair, and ran resolutely." 42 years later, in the Battle of the Sea of Japan, General Togo calmly stood on the bridge of the "Mikasa" and commanded despite the shrapnel flying everywhere, wondering if he would remember his mother's past when he took the Satsuma Yu Line labor army.
■ During the Sasquatche-British War of 1863, British forces occupied Maeda Fort in Satsuma Domain.
■ Higashigo Heihachirō's mother, Mako, died in 1901.
Another dish that Dongxiang loves, boiled bitter melon tofu eggs, is also a Specialty of South Kyushu. Ishii's approach is as follows: "Cut the bitter melon vertically into four cloves, remove the seeds and cut them finely, and when cooked, drizzle with miso (a Japanese seasoning) and soy sauce, and add the hard-boiled eggs and tofu. "The same dish is still served in Kagoshima to this day, and the practice has not changed. Bitter melons can be found all over Japan today, but in the Meiji era bitter melons were a specialty vegetable of Minakyushu and could only be eaten every year during the summer months. According to the Satsuma Chronicle, bitter melons in the Satsuma region are called "multi-fruit" and are usually picked when they are about to ripen, made into dried vegetables, or fried in oil. Because of the limited production area and the small production, the consumption of bitter melon was not common at that time, and there is no record of bitter melon cuisine in the "Naval Cutting and Cooking Reference Book" of the same period. Perhaps considering that Togo is a Kagoshima native, Ishii made this dish.
■ Boiled bitter melon tofu eggs are also a specialty of Minami Kyushu and are loved by Donggo.
In addition to loving to eat hometown dishes, General Dongxiang is also a good drinker, and when he was young, he was a well-known wine tycoon in the military, with a considerable amount of alcohol, and even taught his son that "if you don't drink, you are not a good boy." Even as he grew older, Togo still maintained the habit of late-night drinking on the Mikasa. Ishii records: "Every night after 10 o'clock, the general usually pours himself a drink and drinks about 2000 (0.1 liters per contract). "Although it is not as bold as when I was young and drinking with friends, a few drinks a night is an indispensable life spice for Dongxiang. If there is a rare drink, such as Shizuoka's Kotsu sea bream, Togo will gather his subordinates to the governor's cabin to hold a small cocktail party and drink until late at night. However, Togo underwent surgery for bladder stones in 1913, and after that, heeded the advice of his doctors and quit drinking alcohol.
View of the governor's table
When Ishii was working as a chef on the Mikasa, Admiral Togo and the fleet command staff had customized recipes for three meals a day. Breakfast and lunch are Western, and dinner is Japanese cuisine (Japanese cuisine). Oatmeal, toast, poached eggs or omelets, frozen ham, steak, coffee and fruit are served for breakfast, soups, fried foods, fried fish and roast chicken are available for lunch, and soups, sashimi, grilled fish, salted meats, vegetables and pickles are available for dinner. It is said that wine is served with each meal. The officers were usually dressed and fed according to standard Western etiquette, which was undoubtedly the result of learning from the British Navy. Later, many literary works about Heihachiro Togo show that he liked to eat potato goulash and beef soup, but such dishes are not seen in the recipes provided by Ishii for the Combined Fleet Command. Although steak can be eaten for breakfast, according to the eating habits of orientals, eating beef in the morning seems to be a bit of a burden on the stomach and intestines, and many naval officers prefer japanese food for dinner.
■ Inside the captain's cabin at the stern of the battleship Mikasa, this is where the togo commander and the staff of the Combined Fleet Command met and dined.
Togo and his staff dined in the captain's cabin at the stern of the Mikasa, which was also a place for meetings, reports, and guests. Regarding the situation of the senior officers eating, Iida Kenhisa, who served as a staff officer at the Joint Fleet Command during the Russo-Japanese War, recalled the following: "The togo chief was quiet in his work, but his ability to handle affairs was very strong, his emotional intelligence was quite high, and he was quite talkative and rich in topics at the dinner table, and coupled with the echo of chief of staff of Shimamura (Suzuo Shimamura, chief of staff of the joint fleet - author's note), the atmosphere at the table was very warm and lively. A similar description is found in the biographical work Akiyama Makoto: "During the war, it has become a habit for the Togo governor and his staff to talk freely after dinner. It can be seen that in official occasions, Dongxiang, who is always serious and taciturn, will become chatty and happy to communicate at the dinner table.
■ On December 29, 1904, the senior commanders of the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Navy took a group photo at a party, from left to right, respectively, the Adjutant of the Second Fleet, Sushiro Susuo Shimamura, chief of staff of the Combined Fleet, Heihachiro Higashigo, commander of the Second Fleet, Yannosuke Uemura, chief of staff of the Second Fleet, Yuzaburo Kato, and Staff Officer of the First Fleet, Masayuki Akiyama.
However, chief staff officer Makoto Akiyama was generally not found in the crowd of people chatting around the table in the chief's cabin. Known as the "genius staff officer", Akiyama has a fanatical style, and his performance during the meal is particularly unique, as his biography says: "Staff officer Akiyama does not join the after-dinner conversation, regardless of whether the commander is seated or not, he does not care, immediately after the meal is finished, returning to his cabin, not knowing what he is thinking." ...... (Akiyama) When he dined at the same table with the governor of Togo, before the others had finished eating, and even the dessert had not been served, he picked up the fruit on the table and ate it without hesitation. ”
■ After the victory in the Sea of Japan, General Togo and his staff were photographed, with Yuzaburo Kato in the front row, Heihachiro Togo in the front row, Masayuki Akiyama on the right, and Iida Kenhisa in the second left row in the back row.
Iida, who was later promoted to vice admiral, also witnessed Akiyama's strange behavior aboard the Mikasa, recalling: "Staff Sergeant Akiyama was a genius, but he paid no attention to the so-called etiquette, and often entered the restaurant wearing slippers and swinging,...... He also cut his feet in front of the commander. "Akiyama Masayuki is so wild and uninhibited on weekdays, but the headquarters personnel, including Togo, are accustomed to it and do not think that they are ashamed, and everyone enjoys exquisite dishes made by Ishii Nanazo in this relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.
Naval battle cuisine in the Sea of Japan
Although the table in the Mikasa captain's cabin was usually filled with a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, on the eve of the battle in the Sea of Japan on May 27, 1905, it was full of pre-war tension. Regarding the meals on board the ship on the day of the naval battle, Ishii has the following record: "Immediately after breakfast, the order for combat preparation was issued, and the lunch was advanced to 11 a.m. After lunch, all the crew assembled on the rear deck at 11:55 a.m. to listen to the commander's instructions.
■ On May 27, 1905, on the day of the Battle of the Sea of Japan, the Combined Fleet set sail from the anchorage for the battlefield.
Ishii estimated that there would be a fierce battle with the Russian Baltic Fleet in the afternoon, and it was impossible for everyone to chew slowly at the table as usual, and once the battle began, it would stop delivering steam to the kitchen, and it would not be possible to use steam pots to cook meals. He organized all the kitchen staff to prepare dinner immediately, and before 2 p.m., the dinner was ready and delivered to the various battle positions.
Dinner on the day of the naval battle was not a normal recipe, but a simple combat meal, that is, a rice ball, ishii recorded: "The chef put the rice ball on the dinner cabinet, served with prunes and dry bread (hard biscuits). In the commander's cabin on the middle deck under the bridge, there was also an additional "canned milk with ice".
■ On the day of the naval battle, the Japanese fleet distributed a combat meal to officers and men, including rice balls and hard biscuits, and the picture shows the hard biscuits copied today.
On the afternoon of May 27, the Japanese and Russian fleets met in a narrow way and began to fight. The Japanese fleet took advantage of the "Great Turn in Front of the Enemy" to take advantage of the Russian fleet, but by nightfall the naval battle was not completely over. Expecting fighting to continue after dawn the next day, Ishii and the kitchen staff rushed to prepare the next day's meal overnight, and barely completed the preparation and distribution of breakfast and lunch for the day before dawn on the 28th.
■ This painting depicts the Japanese fleet led by the Mikasa during the Battle of the Sea of Japan, braving Russian artillery fire to seize position.
In response to the emergency production of food and drink in the kitchen all night during the naval battle, on June 23, after the naval battle, the chief planner of the "Mikasa" Usui Shimizu Usuke (equivalent to the later chief planner Nakasa) proposed to the captain to modify the route of the steam pipes in the ship so that the kitchen could cook meals normally during the battle. In addition, according to the feedback of the officers and men participating in the war, the rice ball is more in line with the taste of most people than dry bread, and it is the "most suitable combat food" . The dry bread distributed by the Japanese Navy is hard and dry, needs to be accompanied by a drink or soup to swallow, and is difficult to eat quickly, so front-line combatants prefer soft and easy-to-eat rice balls.
■ Twin 305 mm main turret at the front of the battleship Mikasa.
The Battle of the Sea of Japan was the most glorious victory in the history of the Japanese Navy, and since then, May 27 has been designated as the Navy's Anniversary, and a grand commemoration is held every year. As a meritorious figure in naval warfare, Togo Heihachiro never missed the ceremony of the Navy's Memorial Day in the 28 years from 1906 to 1933, and his eldest son, Togo Biao, said: "For my father, this is a day that makes him feel infinitely emotional. ”
■ At the 1908 Naval Memorial Day celebration banquet, Crown Prince Kahito (later Emperor Taisho) attended the commemoration event.
The venue for naval commemoration days is generally selected at the Water Exchange (Naval Officers' Club) in various military ports, and in addition to reminiscing about the past of the Naval Battle in the Sea of Japan, the participants will also eat rice balls as "naval battle dishes" to commemorate them, which is almost a fixed ceremony, and of course, in addition to the rice balls, they will also eat a sumptuous banquet. In the presence of the Emperor or members of the Imperial Family, the commemoration is even more solemn. According to news reports, the "naval battle dish" served at the Navy's Anniversary Day in 1933 was rice balls with dried green roe. However, it is speculated that the guests in front of the VIP must be a luxurious version with additional ingredients, after all, it cannot be too rude. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, newspapers rarely saw reports of naval anniversaries and "naval warfare dishes."