The Story of Sushi

I have always had a strong interest in Japanese culture. I am taking Nihongo classes, I read tons of history books of Japan, and now I have started to discover the history of their food culture.

I started reading The Story of Sushi and am at awe of the history of everything from rice to the making of miso. I have educated myself on the proper order of a meal within a sushi bar. It is amazing how little I knew of the process. Did you know that the miso soup is supposed to be one of the last items of the meal and not the first? I knew that if you dipped nigiri in soy sauce it was always fish down, but I didn't know that this was really an insult to the sushi chef. True nigiri shouldn't need any further flavors added, or you lose the flavor of the fish. 

I also was interested to learn that in a "real" sushi establishment there will not be any menus. Diners are suppose to come in, be seated, great the chef and say "omakase" ("I leave it up to you"), this allows the chef to serve what he thinks is the best fish of the day and to show off his skills. It will also allow you as the diner to sample new flavors that you may otherwise have overlooked. 

Even though I do not drink now, I never realized that traditional sushi connoisseurs will never drink sake with their sushi. It is a blending of two rice flavors and the flavors of the fish will be lost on the palate. 

And lastly...rolls of any kind should never be consumed until the end...and only one type of roll. Chef's choice. The purpose of the roll is to make sure that the diner is full and satisfied when leaving the restaurant.

I will post more as I continue through the book, but so far it has been a great read.