すし Sushi

I have never understood how some people can say 'I don't like Chinese food' or 'I don't like Indian food'. What, all food from that country you dislike? Every single dish? How can the cuisine of an entire nation be ruled out like that?! What I do understand is that some people hear the words 'raw' and 'fish' and immediately think that sushi will taste awful. 'Raw fish' doesn't exactly have the most pleasant connotations. Personally, I used to think of my cat's breath straight after she'd eaten tuna – mmm, salty. But I am a complete convert to sushi. It sounds dreadful in theory but tastes awesome in practice, and don't knock it until you've tried it. Even if you do try it and then decide you don't like it, Japanese cuisine includes so many interesting foods besides sushi – blue lotus demonstrates this very well – you're bound to find something you like. I highly recommend YO! Sushi, where you can watch highly-skilled chefs making your food in front of you, which is a treat in itself.

The only Japanese food I can easily get my hands on at the moment is Morrisons supermarket's sushi boxes. These are... how can I put this nicely... not something a sushi chef would be proud of. You'll barely find a single grain of rice out of place with quality sushi, but this... It tastes okay, I suppose. Not bad. Not particularly great either. My only problem with supermarkets like Morrisons selling sushi as part of their expansion in foreign cuisine, is that people who have never tasted authentic sushi are going to try this and think, 'Yep, tastes like raw fish', without knowing how wonderful the real deal tastes in comparison. Then they'll avoid trying sushi again and that's a shame. It is good, however, for sushi addicts like my brother and I to have a reliable supplier.