Battle Sushi - Origins

Taken from the Kanji, the characters above, which are used today for the word sushi, translate literally as "fish" (on the left) and "delicious" (on the right). The Kanji, you may be wondering, is actually a lettering system that originated in China and wasn't adopted by Japan until sometime in the 5th century. As such, and interestingly enough, if we were to trace back the first days of sushi, we would be standing not in Japan where we assume its origins to root, but rather the heart of China; if we were to eat said sushi, what we would taste and see would differ drastically from what we understand and love from so many restaurants today.

As I am sure you are aware, in the 3rd century the kind folks who invented this dish did not have refrigerators at their disposal, and with fish being a plentiful resource, they needed a way to preserve their food for long periods of time, specifically through the cold winter months to avoid famine. Initially this was done by using large amounts of salt and heavy stones to press and preserve the gutted fish between layers of fermented rice, and it worked quite well, though the flavour of the fish was somewhat sacrificed. Flavour aside, the bigger concern with this method was that it took months to achieve and, when faced with freezing temperatures and hunger, it was risky business if the process didn't take. If done properly, however, the fish could be enjoyed and kept as long as needed, and the rice was discarded, namely because it had by this point turned quite soggy and undesirable; that was until poverty struck and the actions of such food waste was deemed foolish, and so it began that the rice and fish we eaten together; ah, the sushi we know today starts to take shape...

Intrigued by this process and known for its rice cultivation, it is believed that sometime around the 7th century sushi was introduced and carried over to Japan, where it slowly transformed from "food" to "cuisine", which is to say that the presentation and process of combining the fish with various vegetables and seaweed (known as nori) became more of an experience than a necessity. It carried on in tradition until, if we jump ahead to the mid 17th century, by applying basic knowledge of chemical reactions, people learned that by wrapping the fish in rice which had been soaked in vinegar, a much quicker preservation took place, in a matter of only days. This procedure of curing the fish carried on until the 1800's when it is estimated we saw the shift from completely preserved, to raw and fresh fish, eaten quickly before losing its natural clean flavour; and thus the invention of fast food sushi carts in Japan.

Considering its history, the sushi we know is actually quite young. Though it may have been locally popular, it wasn't until an earthquake in the early 20th century forced many Japanese food vendors to spread out and seek employment in other parts of the country, showcasing their skills and abilities with the art behind the food. It was because of this natural disaster that sushi became wide spread and popular, considered by many to be the healthiest of fast foods, and sparking great interest and a still growing trend in the Americas.

While its evolution has taken centuries, sushi and its practical origins are still in the works today, with the salted and fermented varieties still available, though an acquired taste is certainly required for this extremely overpowered version of the dish. It goes by many names depending on the locale in which you research, but no matter which one you look up, the most common misunderstanding today is that sushi means raw fish. Thanks to a layered history and evolution of practices, however, the true definition is that sushi is the combination of rice and vinegar; the addition of fish, be it raw or cooked, is completely optional, so for those a little weary of uncooked tuna, there's no need to fear (though I have to say, toro is so incredibly worth trying at least once in your life).

Finally, while we consume many varieties of sushi, the three most popular types to identify yourself with are as follows:

Sashimi: sliced raw fish, served alone and without rice (by true definition, this is technically not sushi at all!)




Nigirizushi: sliced raw fish served on top of an oblong ball of rice





Makizushi: rice and various vegetables and fish rolled around or within a layer of nori





And that's your history lesson for the day, now let's get back to the battle:

Chapter Two - Fuji Sushi

This was actually the first sushi restaurant I heard about in this fair city. Its name was buzzing about work one day and was actually recommended to me as a great place to fill up. I guess I went in with pretty high expectations, and I understand how they can so easily be let down, but as I look back on the dining experience a day later, I think I should have prepared myself differently, maybe then I'd have been impressed.

Location: Downtown, Carden Street

Atmosphere: It was pretty full when we arrived, only a few free tables amongst the 50 or so seats that they host. The decor is the standard I described in chapter one, only not very clean and pretty lackluster; the carpets seemed to contain a lot of stains, as did the chairs, and the entire place smelled of something gone bad; definitely not much to say for first impressions.

Presentation: plastic cups, plastic chopsticks and plastic dipping trays (for soy and wasabe) led me to believe that the dishes weren't entirely clean. I can't fully explain to you my reasoning behind this belief, I guess plastic dinnerware in a restaurant implies to me a level of laziness and I'm not entirely trusting that dishwasher is doing their job. As far as presentation of the food itself, it showed up looking okay at best, clearly the guys putting it together were trying to keep up with a large number of orders, and were most likely in the weeds, that being said, allow me to describe the food.

Though they offer a la carte dining, it is designed as a buffet restaurant. When you sit down they hand you sheets of paper with numbers correlating to the pretty pictures on the menu. You tick off the numbers you want, hand the sheets over to the server, and moments later you have food at your table. For $18.99 (or $17.99 with the cash discount...?) you can fill out as many of these sheets as you want, for no more than an hour and a half. The food was edible, though a couple dishes were pretty questionable, and it may have even been better than some sushi I've eaten in the past, remember that word "safe?" But, with the project in mind, this was not the caliber of food I'm in search of. Actually, if I compare to Sushi Choice, I have to wonder how I went from three good dishes costing me $23 to an unlimited number of dishes for $17.99 (yes, I took the cash discount price...). Is it because Sushi Choice is overcharging? No, it's because the quality of food at Fuji Sushi is below grade. No properly operating restaurant is going to give you quality food for less than their cost, and this sacrifice was quite noticeable in the textures and temperatures of their product. The nori was cheap and though the fish was fresh, it still wasn't of good quality and did not have that "clean" taste; also, as a fan of properly chilled sushi, this was more on the "above room temperature" side of the scale.

So, bang for your buck? - I guess you can go for it, you will leave full on mediocre food. Dining experience to relive? - Not so much for me, that smell made me feel dirty while I ate.

1.5 out of 5 (points only given for the average quality food being plentiful enough to fill me up)

-Phil

Fuji Sushi
78 Carden Street
Guelph, Ontario