The Michael Jackson – Sushi Connection

I didn’t think there was one—until now. American sushi chefs are reinvigorating the traditional cuisine in surprising ways at the moment. One of the more unusual chefs in this movement is an African American woman in Memphis named Marisa Baggett. She’s just written a touching vignette about how Michael Jackson became part, in a roundabout…

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Why There Are So Few Women Sushi Chefs

In Japan, sushi is a man’s world. Male chefs use all manner of excuses to defend their sushi bars against women who want to work there. Women can’t be sushi chefs, they say, because makeup, body lotion, and perfume destroy the flavor of the fish and rice. Some male chefs claim that the area behind…

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“Normal” Sushi vs. “Authentic” Sushi

A reader of The Story of Sushi wrote in to ask whether I could recommend a place to eat sushi in Chicago. After reading my book, this person had started to wonder whether their local sushi joint was up to snuff. I receive these sorts of comments a lot. After reading the book people realize…

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The Truth About Chopsticks

Last night I hosted a Sushi Concierge dinner for a family of four, including a young man who was 12 years old. He turned out to be quite the gourmand, keen on the very traditional types of sushi we tried. But he hadn’t yet completely mastered chopsticks. When we started the meal he was worried…

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A Strange Object Emerged from the Anus

The caption of this beautiful 1850 Japanese print reads: “The man ate salmon. After a time, a strange object emerged from the anus and was pulled out. It turned out to be 2–3 meters long.” I love parasitic worms. Writing about them and their mischievous ways was one of the great pleasures of putting together…

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Shopping Around vs. Getting to Know a Chef

A sushi lover in New York just asked me: “What do you think of Yama on Irving place? My roommates are addicted, and I think it’s good, but just wondering the thoughts of a real critic! :)” Here’s the thing—I never recommend sushi restaurants. And here’s why: I sometimes make references to specific sushi restaurants,…

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New York Times Features My Article on American Sushi Chefs

Illustration by Craig Phillips for The Atlantic. A nice surprise reading the Times with breakfast this morning and discovering that the Week in Review section featured an excerpt from my article in the June issue of the Atlantic on how American sushi chefs are helping to bring the cuisine back to its Japanese roots.

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Soy Sauce: Yes or No?

There are many things we Westerners don’t know about eating sushi, chief among them the fact that plain old soy sauce is actually not a very good match for most raw fish. Indeed, at a really good sushi bar, it’s often best not to use soy sauce at all. As I explained at a Sushi…

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What If Your Sushi Chef Isn’t Japanese, or Even Asian?

Photo: Danish sushi chef Fie Kruse, who is depicted in Trevor Corson’s book The Story of Sushi, prepares dinner for a customer. Photo by Trevor Corson. Say you walk into a sushi bar in America hungry for an authentic Japanese meal and you’re faced with a choice. There’s an empty seat in front of a chef…

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