The History of Tofu
Hello guys… did you enjoy everything today? I hope you have
such a beautiful day. Yesterday my friend and I went to the Taiwan Restaurant
to eat some delicious dessert. We ate the dessert that contains tofu pudding. Do
you ever eat tofu pudding? Or the other food that made from tofu? How it was?
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| Image taken from: bbcgoodfood |
I think tofu is really popular in the world because tofu is
delicious and healthy. In my country for example tofu is called as ‘tahu’ and
tahu is the one of the most popular food in Indonesia. But do you who is the
founder of tofu? Do you want to know how this food can spread out the world?. Let’s
see how the history of our creamy tofu.
Maybe we often hear the food made by tofu is originated from
Japan, but actually the founder of tofu was China over 2000 years ago. The
oldest evidence of tofu production is a Chinese mural incised on a stone slab.
It shows a kitchen scene that proves that soymilk and tofu were being made in
China during the period A.D. 25-220. Su Ping was writing the poem “Ode to Tofu”
about tofu at about A.D 1500.
Tofu was brought to Japan by Kento Priest, who went to China
to study Buddhism, brought tofu back to Japan during the Nara era (710-794). Firstly
tofu was eaten as a vegetarian food in vegetarian diets for priests. In Japan
in the dairy of the Shinto priest Nakaomi is the first time ‘tofu’. In 1489 the
word "tofu" was first written in the actual Japanese characters. Tofu
gradually became popular among the nobility and the samurai class. During the
Edo era (1603-1867), tofu became popular among ordinary people. The cooking
book "Tofu Hyakuchin" was published in 1782 and sold very well.
Tofu history in Western world - In 1603 the Spanish
dictionary "Vocabulario da lingoa de Iapam" was the first European
document with reference to the word "tofu". Domingo Fernandez de
Navarrete described in his book "A Collection of Voyages and Travels"
how tofu was made. The first English reference to tofu was in 1704, when
Navarrete's book was published in English. Tofu was first produced (non-commercial)
in France by Paillieux in 1880. Hirata & Co started to make tofu in San
Francisco in 1895. The first Westerner who produced tofu on a commercial scale
was T.A. Van Gundy in 1929 when he started the company La Sierra Industries in
California.
In the western world, "Vocabulario da lingoa de
Iapam" was the first document that write the information about tofu, that
is the Spanish Dictionary. Domingo Fernandez de Navarrete described how tofu
was made in his book "A Collection of Voyages and Travles". Navarrete's
book was published in English, that’s the first document about tofu that
written in English. In 1880 tofu was first produced for non-commercial in
France by Paillieux. Hirata & Co started to make tofu in San Francisco in
1895. The first Westerner who produced tofu on a commercial scale was T.A. Van
Gundy in 1929 when he started the company La Sierra Industries in California.
It’s been a long time since tofu was found and became so
popular in the world. It’s proper because from tofu we can make a lot of delicious
food. Some recipes about delicious foods that made of tofu will be our post
next time. Have a nice day…
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