Tsuyu (dipping broth, 1914)

[victor steinbok]

I believe, I found an earlier version of the same story--1891. And it may
not be the earliest, as the subtitle suggests that the stories were culled
from a journal published in the Daily Telegraph, although the dates are not
specified. In fact, "tsuyu" is mentioned twice, although the first one does
not appear to be integrated (but does explain the confusion in the second).

http://goo.gl/Fmv4y
Seas and lands. By Sir Edwin Arnold. NY: Longmans, 1891
[Reprinted by Permission of the Proprietors of the "Daily Telegraph" From
Letters Published Under the Title "By Sea and Land" in That Journal.]
Chapter 14. Rural Japan. p. 190-1

> First appears a small square table about eight inches high, upon which are
> placed fresh cups and chopsticks *(hashi), *the latter being cut from
> white wood, the two sticks still joined at the end, so that you may know
> they are fresh and unused. You separate them as a hungry man takes up his
> knife and fork, and are then ready for the "honourable tray " of red or
> black lacquer, which is slid within your reach by the kneeling and bowing
> *musume. *On each of our trays was a little bowl of soup with shreds of
> vegetables, a saucer of pickled celery and radish--*tsukemono*--a minute
> slab of boiled trout, another saucer holding shreds of cold chicken, and a
> wooden bowl with a rather doubtful composition of some sort of whey and
> white of egg. Between the trays a large wooden tub of hot boiled rice,
> admirably dressed, was set, with a fresh pot of tea. A plate of cakes--*
> kashi*--also appeared, and when we had asked for and obtained salt and
> bread $B!= (Barticles apparently not usually furnished--there was quite enough to
> eat, and of no bad quality. The little glossy-haired *musume *kneels all
> the time before the guest, softly murmuring as she re-fills your plate or
> cup, "*Mo sukoshi nasai*"--" Condescend to take a little more!"--and it is
> part of the refined politeness of this nation that they call hot water, tea,
> and soup, by complimentary terms, as "*O yu," " *The honourable
> hot-water;" "*0 cha," "*The honourable tea;" " *0 **tsuyu," **" *The
> honourable refreshing dew--of soup." The hot white rice, decorously poked
> into the mouth with the chopsticks from the edge of the laquered basin, is
> the real mainstay of the meal, which, being removed, the tobacco-box and
> small bamboo pipes succeed.


The second citation matches the 1914 one:

Chapter 17. A Japanese Dinner. p. 232
[See original quotation.]

Amazingly enough, OED has an earlier mention of "tsukemono" (1885). The rest
of the Japanese terms are not found in the OED.

The same text is reprinted in 1899 ( http://goo.gl/gu5Jt ).

The 1872 Japanese-Engish dictionary in GB gives several representations for
three "tsuyu" words--rainy season, dew and broth/soup. But the first pair of
characters you list for broth appears in all three.

http://goo.gl/Ovl0p
p. 571

On the other hand, this dictionary cannot be used for antedating because
"tsuyu" appears only in Japanese phrases in it. What's interesting about it
is that there are a number of semi-integrated sources (that is, those that
cite both the Japanese word and the translation, but as a part of a running
text), in addition to a number of transliterations of Japanese text. But
virtually all of the ones prior to 1920 refer to either "dew" or "rainy
season" (mid-June to early July, not the one in September--others suggest
that /all/ rainy seasons are identified as "tsuyu"). Some mention various
combinations, such as pottery called "Shira-tsuyu" (white dew) and the
phrase "asa-tsuyu" (morning dew or "something transient"). The rest are
actually proper names.

There is one other exception, but it's only a snippet in GB.

http://goo.gl/p1Fil
Saturday Review, supposedly from 1892.

Internal check suggests that the date is accurate, but should still be
verified. The passage refers to "tsuyu-soup".

Another passage (1893) identifies "sausage in syrup" but it's a tsuyu
compound, so I did not keep track of it.

VS-)


On Sun, Aug 14, 2011 at 10:40 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com>wrote:

>
> I don't see tsuyu in the OED. "Soup" seems to be a common way to referring
> to this. I think that's what the waiter in the pseudo-Japanese restaurant
> responded with when I asked for tsuyu and he didn't know the word.
>
> 1. The earliest I see on Google Books for "tsuyu" as dipping broth is 1914,
> though the authors seem to confuse tsuyu ( $B$D$f (B or  $B=A (B) "broth, dipping broth"
> and tsuyu "dew" ( $BO* (B).
>
> The world's story: a history of the world in story, song and art, ed. by
> Eva March Tappan (Google eBook)) (http://ow.ly/63121)
> Karl Julius Ploetz, Horatio Willis Dresser
> Houghton Mifflin company
>
> -----
> Then comes the first "honorable" table, a small lacquered tray with
> lacquered blows upon it, containing a covered basin of tsuyu-soup--the
> "honorable dew"--a little pot of soy, a gilded platter with various sweet
> and aromatic condiments upon it, and some wonderful vegetables, environing
> some fairy cutlets of salmon.
> -----
>
> 2. The next occurrence jumps to 1964:
>
> The East, Volumes 1-3, East Publications, Inc., page 38 (
> http://ow.ly/630VM)
>
> -----
> _Udon_ and _soba_ can be bought in most food stores in Japan, so one need
> only know how to prepare the soup, or _tsuyu_: Dried bonito flakes...
> -----
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Seattle, WA

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