Speaking (or writing) of interesting foods, der Brucer found an article on Advanced Sushi Dining a little while ago in the Los Angeles Times. The following quotes might whet everyone's interest:
The server will place a set of chopsticks before you, with the tips to the left on their rest. Throughout the meal, keep the rest where it is, and replace the sticks facing left. If there's no rest, return the sticks with the points to the left directly on the counter.
What if you're left handed? I'm not, but my mother was, and she always was more comfortable doing things in the reverse direction. She even knitted left handed. Shouldn't she have been allowed to have the tips of her chopsticks facing right?
Next challenge: the soy sauce and wasabi issue. Contrary to popular belief, you're only supposed to put a few drops of soy sauce in the bowl, and no wasabi. I learned this that first night at Ta-ke when Shishido whisked away the full bowl and handed me another one to try again. The idea, he explained, is to dab a bit of wasabi onto each piece of sashimi; that way you can control the amount you put on each piece.
So I've been an ignorant American barbarian all this time. *sigh*
I have yet to check out the article myself, but...
Does it mention that when you eat a piece of nigiri you're supposed to only dip the fish in the soy sauce and not the rice. At least that's how I was instructed to eat when I dined at a rather upscale sushi restaurant.
-It was so upscale - and "pure" - that the chef would only serve bottled water to go with the meals. No tap water - he said it interfered with the flavors of the fish. And he made the local DC news one time when he evicted a pair of diners who did not want to pay for repeated refills of the bottled water. They had gone into the bathroom and filled their glasses from sink!
After all the "attention", tap water is now offered to diners.
And, yes, the wasabi is supposed to be dabbed on to taste.
Have you ever had freshly-grated-at-your-table wasabi? WOW! Quite a difference from the reconstituted powder stuff.
Oh, and then there's the "tradition" of sushi chefs being men do to the different body temperatures of women. -Although, women have started to be certified as sushi chefs now. In fact, there are some quite notable ones in NYC.
