false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255579555m/250638.jpg 250638 3 In The Story of Sushi journalist Trevor Corson provides a lively tour of the culture of sushi in America––from the chefs who prepare sushi to the multifarious creatures that compose it. He escorts the reader behind the sushi bar, through an extensive three–month course at the California Sushi Academy in Los Angeles where he spent a semester shadowing the founder of the Academy and a select group of master chefs and their trainees and experienced first hand what's involved in becoming "a naturalist with a knife." In Corson's words, "People see sushi chefs working behind the sushi bar and think that's what they do. Customers never see the many hours of prep work that go into getting the sushi bar set up in the first place. Master sushi chefs require knowledge of anatomy and life cycles of the creatures to know what creatures to serve at what time of year and how to break them down from their natural, whole state. All this happens in the kitchen in the afternoon. I take the reader inside that world and show them the skills required. It's much more than just slicing blocks of fish and making rolls and nigiri." As the story of the chefs and trainees unfolds, he describes the different types of organisms that compose sushi, their behavior, biology, evolutionary origins, ecological niches, and nutritional properties. He discusses the seasonal progression of the organisms and explores the techniques by which they're harvested, including what's the best time for harvesting and why. He then provides a history of sushi's origins and evolution in Japan and its transplantation to the United States via Los Angeles, and most compellingly, considers the future of sushi in America, revealing why the best sushi chefs of the future will most likely not be Japanese and male. After reading The Story of Sushi, readers will return to their favorite sushi restaurants equipped with a new sense of wonder at the animals and plants on the plate, and a new expertise in how best to appreciate them. 242863 book 29 5 2007 The Zen of Fish: The Story of Sushi, from Samurai to Supermarket total:385|5:82|4:169|3:107|2:23|1:4| 385 1457 614 120 3 0 false false Tue Jun 23 10:34:23 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 00:44:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Apr 10 02:37:14 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 02:43:38 -0700 2009
The parts of Zen of Fish about the scientific compositio...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Sep 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Nov 12 11:46:21 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 11:46:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 11:29:21 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 07:22:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jan 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 03 23:03:22 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 03 23:54:54 -0800 2009
And that's the most fun tug-of-war that the whole book leaves you with. I alternately wanted to run out and...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Aug 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 10:17:13 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 08:39:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false true Sat Feb 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 03 23:19:10 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 12:56:56 -0800 2009 The Zen of Fish discusses the (irrevocable) evolution of the craft of Sushi into the modern era. While paying homage to Sushi's anthropology, the text focuses primarily on what might be called 'proper' etiquette and technique in North America and Japan. To balance out repulsive descriptions of how c...more...]]> 0 1 false false Wed Aug 20 05:17:30 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 20 05:18:48 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Mon Jan 19 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 14 19:35:35 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 03:52:28 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Nov 21 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 09 17:21:46 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 05:59:00 -0800 2008 The Zen of Fish follows a student seeking to become a sushi chef from her first class to graduation, giving the reader an opportunity to experience what goes on behind the sushi bar. Filling the book with graphic details of preparing fish, and even creating the bacteria that creates sushi rice, the ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Dec 26 16:58:40 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 10 13:20:15 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jun 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Feb 21 15:53:16 -0800 2009 Mon Jun 08 10:01:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 2 false false Mon Sep 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jan 05 12:13:09 -0800 2009 Mon Sep 07 17:47:03 -0700 2009 there there.

There are two entwined parts of this book: a documentary of a class of sushi chefs and a history/natural history o...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Dec 14 02:46:06 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 01 09:07:20 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 12 08:34:01 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 12 08:43:13 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue May 29 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 25 13:55:08 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 14:25:00 -0700 2008
The Plot: The book is nonfiction, yet it still has a plot - Trevor Corson follows three aspiring sushi chefs at a flailing sushi restaurant/school hybrid in California. Kate is a ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jul 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 04 16:11:04 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 05 21:59:55 -0700 2008
Trevor Corson sp...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 13 10:37:50 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 13 10:42:30 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 19 17:30:02 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 19 17:30:02 -0800 2008
Corson (The Secret Life of Lobsters) spent months at a "sushi school" run out of a Japanese restaurant in Hermosa Beach, Calif., observing the students as they learned how to prepare a seemingly endless variety of fish. Although the reporting focuses prim...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 07 15:42:30 -0700 2007 Sat Dec 08 11:34:26 -0800 2007 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=250638