Abstract
We compared the ways that potatoes were prepared in the Teizui, Ôfuki and Tonoyama districts of Saijô with those in the Ishii district of Matsuyama in Ehime prefecture. We looked at 696 dishes and found that 97.5% were for ordinary meals, white potatoes being used more, while older people used more yam and konnyaku. Special occasions called for taro, sweet potato or konnyaku (devil's tongue).
Ôfuki and Tonoyama, both in mountainous areas, had unique dishes such as “mukago-meshi” and “otsuri”, although, these traditional dishes were disappearing. There were many different potato dishes in Teizui, but none were local. Ishii had the largest variety of potato dishes, including such local dishes as “satsuma” and “loach soup”. The taro dish, “imotaki”, was common in all districts.
A 6.9% proportion of potato dishes was disappearing, while 4.7% of the dishes were coming back into fashion. These figures seemed to reflect the changing family size.
