Kaiseki cuisine is a light meal of small, distinct courses. The typical menu consists of seven courses that are accented by servings of sake poured into shallow cups.

The first course comes served on black lacquer trays. Each tray will hold a small open dish containing a salad, and two covered lacquer bowls. Guests open the two lidded bowls at the same time, reveiling that one contains a perfect line of white rice, and the other a creamy miso soup.

The second, Nimono, course is brought into the room. This dish, made up of morsels of food in seasoned broth, is the heart of the Kaiseki meal. The guests bring the bowls close and remove the lids. The clear broth might contain such items as steamed fish, shiitake mushrooms, and parboiled spinach leaves.

The host enters the tearoom again, with more sake, and after serving it to each guest, brings in a large dish of rough pottery that holds the third course, the Yakimono. This part of the meal is a grilled food such as halibut or sea bass, and is always served alone.

The host returns to the kitchen where he eats a little bit himself. Then he serves the fourth course, the Hashiarai, in lidded lacquer cups. Each cup will contain hot water flavored with a tiny sage blossom or a sliver of lemon, helping to refresh the palate.

The fifth, or Hassun, course is the most poetic one. A large part of its beauty is found in the tray. Until this course, all the utensils provided to the guests have been ceramic or lacquer. The Hassun tray is almost always made of plain cedar, its pale grain dampened just before serving. The tray contains two foods, one loosely classified as from the "mountain" and the other from the "sea". Both of which are arranged in tiny piles to create contrasts of color, shape, texture, and seasoning. Each piece of these foods is intended as single bite to accompany sake.

A sixth course, consisting of pickles and a last serving of rice, signals the end of the meal. The rice has continued to cook slowly, and by now it's crunchy and browned. The guests experience the passage of time with each serving of rice as its taste and texture changes. Pickles, chosen to reflect the season, cleanse the palate for the seventh and final course of sweets.

A stacked black lacquer box is left with the guests before they adjourn to the garden. Inside are luscious sweets made by the host. Their poetic names reflect the seasons. In October pureed chestnut is molded into shapes of mountain peaks and valleys with the name "Mountain Path". In December when the first snow blankets the landscape sweetened azuki and white beans are made into "Snow on Brushwood".

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Information in this section from: The World in a Bowl of Tea. See Bibliography page for more details

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