ANOTHER HIDDEN DELIGHT – COOKING JAPANESE IN JAMAICA!

When it comes to Japanese food, everyone thinks of sushi. Sushi may be our national dish, yet it is not something average Japanese moms would make at home. Most Japanese, unless they have been trained to be a sushi chef, go out for sushi.

Some Japanese see sushi as a traditional art form and it is said to take many years to become a qualified sushi chef. You will also notice that all sushi chefs without exception are male. When it comes to sushi, Japanese don’t like to eat from female chefs. Reason? They believe the scent of perfume and other cosmetic products women wear get on to the sushi.

While many Japanese take pride in this somewhat obscure tradition of eating slices of raw fish with rice vinegar and sugar-flavoured rice balls, not many of them would have thought sushi would become such a popular dish worldwide.

It was not until the late 1980s that sushi became widely accepted outside of Japan. But not everyone was fond of the idea of eating raw fish. So sushi-like California rolls, Philly rolls, and spider rolls were invented. Since then, more and more unorthodox sushi variations have been introduced almost all over the world. Today, there is almost nowhere in the world that I have visited where I do not find a sushi bar.

Making sushi rolls can be intimidating, but it is, in fact, one of the easiest things to make. And it is definitely entertaining and fun. You can be very creative with sushi. There are no rules. Let your children help you with it, too.