The Story of Sushi

An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice

By: Trevor Corson

Narrated by: Brian Nishii

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Everything you never knew about sushi: its surprising origins, the colorful lives of its chefs, and the bizarre behavior of the creatures that compose it. Trevor Corson takes us behind the scenes at America's first sushi-chef training academy, as eager novices strive to master the elusive art of cooking without cooking. He delves into the biology and natural history of the edible creatures of the sea, and tells the fascinating story of an Indo-Chinese meal reinvented in 19th-century Tokyo as a cheap fast food. He reveals the pioneers who brought sushi to the United States and explores how this unlikely meal is exploding into the American heartland just as the long-term future of sushi may be unraveling.

The Story of Sushi is at once a compelling tale of human determination and a delectable smorgasbord of surprising food science, intrepid reporting, and provocative cultural history.

©2007 Trevor Corson (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The combination of culinary insights and personal drama makes for one of the more compelling food-themed books in recent years." ( Publishers Weekly)

brilliant

really interesting book. you should get it and have a listen. stay safe and listen.

Makes you hungry for good sushi

Amazing book that combines culture, science and cuisine. Very thoroughly researched and entertaining. The narrator is great and pronounces the numerous amounts of Japanese terminology authentically.

Wonderful book on sushi!

Was hungry the whole time! Nothing is missed. Narrator is perfect. Only complaint is that the link to show pictures of people on the book does not contain any. :(

great and informative listen

loved the food science. I could have done without the story itself, but it isn't bad at all. it would have made a cool TV show.

Fascinating

If you could sum up The Story of Sushi in three words, what would they be?

Enjoyable, fascinating, structured

Who was your favorite character and why?

Kate was my favourite character because she was so real and down to earth

Which character – as performed by Brian Nishii – was your favorite?

Zoran Lecic

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

History, geography, biology human interest rolled into one.

Any additional comments?

Compelling story. I learnt so much about fish, rice, soya sauce, miso as well as sushi. I will never eat sushi and sashimi again without thinking about this book. I loved it.

Great Book for sushi enthusiasts and Sushi Chef!

Great Sushi book. I'm a sushi chef at Take out sushi bar and I learned a lot about story of sushi and anything else about sushi in United States. I can relate to the story of many sushi chef and Kate from the book. Love the book!

For sushi lovers

The book is part story following Kate, a student at the California Sushi Academy, and part history. It seamlessly introduces the history of sushi among scenes with Kate learning to be a sushi chef. If you enjoy sushi and are familiar with the Japanese words used in the cuisine, this book is entertaining and filled with interesting facts. For example, you are supposed to use your hand to pick up the sushi, not use chopsticks. Dip the sushi with the fish piece down in the soy sauce, not the rice (which will cause it break apart). Eat the entire sushi piece in one bite. Eat the pickled ginger to cleanse your palate between sushi dishes; it is not an appetizer to be completely eaten at the beginning of the meal.

A shortcoming of the book is Kate, who is squeamish about cutting fish heads and eating octopus, among other things. Occasionally, the author refers to the Japanese comic book Sushi Chef Kirara's Job in which the female protagonist is preparing sushi correctly. Instead of a low performing student and a made-up character, the author should have selected a real student with potential and followed that person's progress through the semester.

Fun Facts

I thought this was a fun and interesting book. I like sushi, and now feel better informed about many aspects of sushi and sushi culture. Things like; though sushi is presently viewed as kind of snobby, it originally had more in common with a hotdog street cart, and was fairly practical. While it is nonfiction, Trevor Corson does interweave the facts with a story about some up and coming sushi chefs (something some reviewers noted as tedious). While all in all the narration was pretty good, I would have to nominate Brian Nishii for the worst Australian accent ever… ever.

Hated it at first, an hour in I was Hooked.

I really hated the writing method the writer used at first. The writer uses a sushi school's students progression through the class to tell the history of sushi which at first I hated and almost skipped this book all together. but he kept giving great history facts and engrossed me through to the end. I love sushi and learned a lot about it from this book.

FYI: I been to several sushi bars since reading this book and love the idea of Omakase which means "I leave it to you." This approach has not turned out very well for me since most of the Sushi Chef's I ran into were Chinese(yes I cannot tell the difference right off between Chinese and Japanese.) They always seemed surprised by this approach and gave me a very american sushi experience. Spicy tuna rolls is something I can get at my grocery store like world market when I go to a sushi bar I want different weird things not California rolls.

Great story blended with science.

I learned alot about the food science of asian cuisine. I am a sucker for a book that seems designed for an educated audience. I suspect I will listen to more books by Trevor Corson.