Mary’s Chocolate has created a rather unique series of chocolates called “Tsuwamono,” based on the Sengoku Daimyo. In the box version, there are fifteen different flavors, each with a connection to a particular Daimyo. On the inside lid are illustrations of the helmets of each Daimyo, and in the box are the pieces of chocolate, each a different color with a different taste. At first, this seems like a gimmick with no real connection to the feudal lords themselves.

However, as one example, consider Date Masamune, the powerful Tozama Daimyo based in what is now Sendai. The particular piece of chocolate that he is connected with has “miso” in it. This is a not a common ingredient in chocolate. But there is a reason for this connection.

Masamune participated in Hideyoshi’s invasion of the Korean peninsula. Obviously each lord had to bring food for his troops, and one of the ingredients was miso. The miso that other lords had brought with them spoiled. Masamune’s miso, however, remained edible and the reputation of that type of miso was established.

Later it was supplied to the domain government and the local ashigaru, and a branch factory was even established in Edo, to supply the domain’s entourage during their period of alternate residence. What is now called Sendai miso is a red-brown color, and, in keeping with Tohoku preference, it is noticeably saltier than its competitors in the Kanto and Kansai regions.

So Mary’s Chocolate didn’t make something up. There was a real reason for the miso in the single piece of chocolate that is dedicated to Masamune.

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