Customer Reviews

The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice (P.S.)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Zen of Fish is built around the story of a group of people attending California's first sushi-chef school, but there's a lot more to the book than that. Using the class as a framework, Corson presents the history of sushi, starting as a way to preserve fish, and its transformation into its present form, first in Japan and later in California. Along the way, he discusses different kinds of fish, how they are caught or farmed, and how they are cooked or presented raw. And this is accompanied by a taste of Japanese culture and vocabulary, and some of the science behind the preserving, cooking, tasting and eating of fish.

It is, like sushi, beautifully presented. The various threads of the book each make an interesting story, and you'll learn something from each of them. I don't want to reduce the book to a tag line, but Corson's thoughtful tone will make you more thoughtful in preparing or eating fish -- a zen approach, if you like. Certainly you'll be a more thoughtful consumer of sushi, but there's also information that might make you a better fish cook, and more knowledgeable in considering the economy and ecological impact of fishing.

There's a cultural lesson to be learned in the way sushi has been Americanized on its way from Tokyo. Eating sushi in the United States can be helped by knowing more about Japanese practice, but it's a separate thing, not a copy. The sushi school in California makes that clear, with frantic weeks of training instead of the years of apprenticeship required in Japan. Being fluent in Japanese, Corson is in an excellent position to provide a balanced view of this, and the clarity of his writing helps you develop your own point of view.

I liked this book a lot. There's so much in the book that while I was reading it I felt as though I should be taking notes, but I didn't want to put it down. It's definitely a book worth coming back to.

After hearing Trevor Corson speak on the radio about sushi, I picked up his book because I wanted to learn more about one of my favorite foods. The Zen of Fish follows a new student through a sushi course at the California Sushi Academy. Mixed in with the story of the student and her classmates are historical facts and other information about things related to sushi such as fish, knives, rice, and etiquette.

While I was reading the book, I couldn't help feeling annoyed by the passages about Kate, the student going through the school. She's inept, clumsy, ditzy, and just not that interesting. I was more interested in the actual tidbits of information about sushi than Kate's classes.

I would have rated this book higher if it only contained the informational passages about the Japanese cuisine. Those parts were interesting and worth reading for anyone who likes sushi, but the other parts felt like a waste of time. Corson might have been trying to get readers to relate to Kate, but he would have been more successful if he had chosen a stronger student from the class to follow.

I gobbled down this book, as if it were a nice square plate full of my favorite sushi rolls. I have been eating sushi since I was a child, and was never taught the correct way to eat it. I was one of those people who mixed wasabi with soy, or put more wasabi on when it was already correctly measured out for me by the chef! I had no idea the origins of the components that make up "sushi", or what it took to become a certified sushi chef. I have new found admiration, on top of the dizzying awe I already had for anyone who can put together the delicacies I so love to eat. Reading it I got so hungry for everything that was described, especially for the special rolls that Kate was so good at making.
It was fascinating to hear about how westerners like their sushi, and how Japanese connoisseurs prefer theirs. It has made me think twice about my own palate and what my taste buds run to.
I myself could never go through what these students went through because I am notorious for chopping off hunks of my own flesh when handling sharp knives. It's a wonderful book, I read it in one sitting , you wont be able to put it down!

This is a book, I think, for lovers of the American-style sushi joint. This is for people who judge a hot new sushi place on the different and exciting kinds of rolls they serve, and for people who think a "Volcano Roll" or a "Mango Chutney Roll with Spicy Curry Sauce" sounds like a delectable treat.

On the other hand, if the words "Edo mae," "Otoro" or "Omakase" have any meaning to you, if the yellow insides of a sea urchin start your mouth drooling instead of gagging, you are probably best off staying away.

Trevor Corson's "The Story of Sushi" is not a pure history book, but instead flip-flops between sushi history in Japan and its development in the US and between telling the story of a class of students enrolled at the California Sushi Academy. The California Sushi Academy offers a 12-week course that circumvents the traditional multi-year apprenticeship system of Japan and delivers sushi-bar ready sushi chefs who are able to meet the current high demand at US restaurants.

From amongst the students Corson chose to follow Kate as his main character. A young woman of around twenty, Kate lacks confidence, has an unspecified eating disorder, is shy and inward, is terrified of her own sushi knives, has no cooking skills and is disgusted at the idea of touching a raw fish, much less cutting one. Directionless and unsure of herself, Kate borrowed money from her parents to attend the sushi school on somewhat of a whim, hoping for a career where she could socialize with customers as her main concern.

Kate is where the book starts, with chapter one, page one, and Kate is where the book fell apart for me. Obviously, Corson saw in Kate someone he hoped his audience could identify with, someone for whom sushi was still slightly "yucky" and who would be grossed out by the concept of eating octopus and squid. I was personally just annoyed by her, and found myself hoping she would drop-out instead of persevere. Her constant whining and self-doubt got to be too much, and she is the kind of character you wish your could somehow reach into the book and give a good smack on the face too.

It's too bad, because the other students who are relegated to the side-lines seemed so much more interesting than Kate. But we don't get to here their stories; like Takumi, the hard-working Japanese student who is secretly a pop star in Japan but escaped to the US where his anonymity allowed him to study his true love, cooking. Or even the Japanese-American girl who dropped out halfway through the course. Why? We'll never know.

As far as the parts of the book that actually focus on sushi history, they are interesting but nothing new. A bit of time browsing wikipedia would bring you the same information, such as the invention of the California Roll by Ichiro Mashita at the Tokyo Kaikan restaurant in LA in the 1960s when he found himself out of fatty tuna and decided to slip in avocado as a quick substitute, or the ins and outs of the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo where the bounty of the seas is flash-frozen and auctioned to the highest bidder.

Perhaps the lack of any real new historical information or ground to cover is what gave Corson the idea of giving over half of the book to Kate and the California Sushi Academy. If you are a real sushi novice, then perhaps much of this will be new to you and the behind-the-scenes look at the sushi school will be valuable/entertaining. Personally I just didn't find a lot here.

On one last note: When I bought this book, it was called "The Zen of Sushi" and I see that the name has since been changed to "The Story of Sushi" which makes me happy. For someone who has "resided in Buddhist temples in Tokyo" (as it says in his author's bio) Corson should know better than to mis-use the term "Zen" in that way.

Journalist and food writer Trevor Corson (who previously authored The Secret Life of Lobsters) has masterfully combined the story of a young female sushi chef struggling up the ranks with the natural and cultural history of Japanese raw fish cuisine. The Zen of Fish follows 20-year-old aspiring sushi chef Kate in her struggle to break down the sexist and cultural barriers to entry in the art of sushi. At the same time, it provides historical context for sushi, which originated as a means of preserving old fish in peasant villages. Modern sushi has Japanese incarnations (influenced by the 20th century US military presence in Japan), California twists, and high-fat, additive-loaded, American supermarket incarnations.

Visit the author's website if this book leaves you wanting more. The site includes articles on etiquette and technique, full-color pictures, and a behind-the-scenes look at the chefs featured in his book.

Corson's fascinated with seafood, as his earlier book on lobsters demonstrates. Here, he casts his net through entirely new waters as he describes what sushi is, where it comes from and where it might be going. Spending three months as a "perpetual presence" in a California sushi school, he was able to establish close contact with staff and students. Supported by an avid research team, he's able to present nearly every facet of sushi from biology to service methods. Little is left unsaid in this book, but every bit is interesting and informative. Written in the best journalistic style you'll find this book worthwhile in many respects.

Among the first students Corson presents is Kate Murray, who lacks both cooking skills and confidence. She quickly learns that there are no short-cuts to sushi, even though the meal is composed of little but rice, mostly raw fish, some vegetables and simple sauces. Throughout the narrative, Kate seems to continually lag behind the other students, harassed by the impatient instructor - Toshi Sugiura. Sushi kitchen skills focus on knives, with each student possessing a kit of them. Sharpening is essential, as Kate learns the hard way. Her solution to her fear of knife sharpening is unique. She's also startled to learn that the image of sushi as "everything fresh" is false. Mold and infectious bacteria are essential to good sushi.

As the class struggles to keep up, Corson is able to introduce a wide range of supportive material relevant to what they learn. Sushi's history is complex and intricate, starting as quick meals from city street vendors. The move of Japan's capital from Kyoto to Edo [Tokyo], was but one of many divisions sushi would go through in Japan. There are also regional varieties, as well as those of customer class. Moving from street to restaurant also brought changes, not all of them universally welcomed. Even today, many women won't enter a sushi restaurant, partly because the staff and customers are male dominated. And often boisterous. Women chefs, such as Kate, and her classmate, Danish beauty Fie Kruse, are generally unwelcome. North American sushi restaurants are slowly modifying that traditional view.

Underlying the kitchen activities is the biology of what comprises the product. Corson provides information on rice's history, but his real flair is in describing the toppings placed on the rice. Shrimp, octopus and the multitude of available fish types both fresh and sea living each have their place and their handling in this book. There are no few surprises in store for the reader. What comprises the wasabi powder you can purchase in many North American shops? Are the salmon eggs crowning the rolls on your plate really from fish? Is tuna the true fundamental topping for sushi? These, and countless other questions, are raised and resolved. Except one - eels, a common sushi topping in Japan, but generally spurned in North America, have eluded domestication through "fish farming" practices. Nobody knows when, where or how they mate. Many other sea food mysteries, however, are undergoing examination and changes by suppliers, chefs and consumers. Pick up this book and be prepared for a challenge to your thinking and your taste buds. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

What a fabulous book! I was lucky enough to receive an advance reader's edition of this text and am fully recommending it to everyone I know...foodies, sushi fans, non-fiction readers, and people like myself who were just curious to the read the book will be delighted.

The book is a nonfiction text that covers the history and expansion of sushi from ancient Japan to modern day California, including the ingredients, the methods, the menus, and the atmosphere of sushi restaurants all over the world, past and present. It also picks up cultural permutations of sushi - how mainstream it has become, why certain things are certain ways, and the big differences between Americanized & traditional sushi practices.

However, the part of the book that really livens it up and makes this worth a 5-star review is the fly-on-the-wall portrayal of a sushi school in California that is attached to a struggling sushi restaurant. Much of the story acts as a lens view of 3 students training at the school, serving as a very well-written and entertaining documentary on paper.

Kate is a young adult hoping to overcome her past by doing something positive with her life - but she gets nothing but negative feedback on her work. Marcos is a teenager hoping to meet chicks and get a job straight out of high school. And Takumi is a retired Japanese pop star devoted to studying his culture from afar to return home a triumphant chef once and for all, after a failed pasta bar attempt.

Overall the book packs equal parts drama and lessons - although at times the talk got a bit technical. However, to clear things up, Corson's folks have put together a fabulous website that lets you see pictures of the people he writes about, includes a blog, sushi facts, etiquette, and tons of photos that really help clear everything up. Have your internet nearby when reading this so you can look up everything from willow blades to nigiri and you'll be just fine.

Throughout the book, the author shifts from describing the history of sushi to describing the foods used in preparing sushi to a narrative about students enrolled at the California Sushi Academy (CSA). His intention, as he says himself, was to make the book more readable, almost like a novel.

While I found the background on the ingredients used in the making of sushi, as well as the historical context of the book to be informative, the narrative regarding the CSA students was a bit distracting and, at times, dumbed-down.

Writing about Kate (one of the students at the CSA) changing out of her chef's clothes and into tight shirt and jeans was unneccessary. It didn't do anything to help the book move along. Unfortunately, Mr. Corson felt it was necessary, not once but twice. Another thing that stuck in my craw was his description of Jeff as "the restaurant consultant" whenever he was mentioned. (Well, maybe not every time, but at least five or six.) It seemed he kept on having to remind us of who this person was. I guess it worked as I don't remember his last name. I only know him as Jeff, the restaurant consultant.

Finally, I found it odd that it wasn't until the end of the book that he added pronunciation keys for some of the Japanese words used in the world of sushi. He should have either left these out altogether or added them from the get-go. Doing so at the end made it feel disjointed and an afterthought.

Overall, though, I thought it was a good book and, as I said, provided a good overview of the history of sushi. Regardless of whether you like the narrative portion of it or feel it's fluff, you'll want to put your new-found knowledge to use the next time you belly up to the sushi bar.

The history and science are what really impressed me here, but the framing tale of a 12 week sushi class held at an excellent, but financially troubled, sushi restaurant in LA worked reasonably well also. I really could associate with the students, having troubles with the daily knife sharpening, and with the fish guts, and struggling through Japanese lessons, fish anatomy, and the harsh realities of the restaurant business. I considered myself a reasonably knowledgeable sushi fan before reading the book, but found that a lot of the "facts" were half truths and mixed up "traditions." I can't imagine any sushi fan not getting a lot out of this book. This book is alternately titled as The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice (P.S.) with more reviews and availability.

In this fact-filled but entertaining book, Corson follows a group of students as they struggle through California's first sushi school, the California Sushi Academy. Corson has picked out three particular students to follow: one is changing careers mid-life, one is going into sushi against the odds, and one is pretty young and seems to mostly provide comic relief along the way. He breaks up this narrative with descriptions of the history of sushi and information about fish and other sushi toppings as they are encountered by the students. The format works, and although I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to people who are squeamish (for relatively accurate descriptions of gutting fish and parasite talk), I would definitely recommend it to any other lovers of books on food.