Sushi - An Oral History

Before fancy modern refrigeration, fishermen across Southeast Asia preserved their catch by placing fish between layers of vinegared rice. Although we do it bite-sized these days, this is how Nigiri sushi was born. Around 700 AD sushi made the leap to Japan and they’ve been pretty much chowing down nonstop.

It’s kind of cool to point out that the Japanese equate sushi chefs with samurai in that both must be scholastic gentlemen of high personal standards and self-discipline. And a sushi chef must apprentice for seven years before he steps into the role. Serious. They don’t mess around.

Old-school sushi tradition was fairly rigid with strict rules about what ingredients could be used, however modern sushi has essentially blown the doors off that belief by incorporating elements of Brazilian, Thai and other exotic menus. And modern sushi has opened the kitchen door to female sushi chefs, too.

With seasonal and regional ingredients like pomegranates and asparagus being incorporated into rolls these days, it is literally a brave new world of sushi out there. Enjoy.

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Oct 15, 2011