The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice

by Trevor Corson

Everything you never knew about 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.

Genres: Food, History, Nonfiction, Japan

Paperback

Published September 2, 2008

Reviews

[Chapter Chasers Book Club]

The Story of Sushi tries to serve up a full omakase of history, culture, and science, but sometimes it feels more like waiting too long between courses. There are fascinating bites—how sushi chefs train, the global fish trade, the quirky details of rice and wasabi—but the pacing drags enough that I found myself wishing for takeout instead of a tasting menu.

Three stars—interesting, a little chewy, but not always fresh enough to keep me hooked.

[Amar]

super interesting overview of sushi and it's transformation throughout time, ending is underwhelming in the way that I wanted the best for each person involved. thoroughly enjoyed

[Darin]

This book is the definition of why we need half stars, because this is the quintessential 3.5 star book. There are two very distinct parts to it. Around 2/3 of the book is a extensive history of sushi.... The ingredients, the process of making it, it's history in both Japan and the United States, and the cultural and social implications of both. This "book" is very interesting and worth the read. I learned a lot. The other third, however, is a narrative of a student entering an American sushi chef school and her travails therein. This "book" is surprisingly flat. The supporting characters are interesting, but the protagonist is written rather flatly and the author struggles to make her a sympathetic figure. She doesn't want to be seen as a "flake", but continues to do flaky things through most of the story, including the climax of her flakiness, which is strangely described, then disappears into the ether with no resolution. If you're a sushi nut (like I am), it's probably worth the read as an introduction, but otherwise you may struggle.

[Laurence]

I love this book! Corson doesn’t just write about sushi—he shows you how it traveled, transformed, and embedded itself into global culture. If you’ve ever closed your eyes on a perfect bite of uni and thought, how did this miracle make its way to my plate?—this book answers that. Corson deep dives into sushi’s history and evolution while following students training to become sushi chefs (equal parts inspiring and mildly terrifying). He makes the backstory of raw fish not just digestible but downright addictive. A great blend of history, culture, and kitchen grit.

[Shirley Brown]

I put off for years to read this book. To my amazement it was quite an interesting book and very entertaining I still don't want to eat the "stuff" however. I am not ready to begin eating raw fish at this point in my life. Some of it is really gross. The story is, however, quite compelling and I would recommend to my friends.

[Anais Ning-Driscoll]

This book is like Kitchen Confidential but for a sushi academy. The book intersperses history, technique and lore about sushi with entertaining snippets of a 19 week program at the California Sushi Academy. Very well written and entertaining! You probably won’t learn a lot if you’re already a frequent flyer at high-end sushi restaurants but the book is a nice refresher on sushi knowledge.

[Lisa Wada]

Very informative and actually entertaining.

[Stephie]

I love sushi so I needed to read this book. The book is very informative as well as entertaining. I highly recommend it!

[MG]

alright ig. :) helped me in an interview

[Beelzefuzz]

The history is very interesting. I did not care much for the framing device of the people at sushi school, distracting from the history dumps.

[Dante Villalobos]

I really like this book. I’ve learned a lot about sushi and fish.

[Lee]

Interesting book, but a little confusing. The book has two narratives.

One is the history of sushi, what one would expect from the book with this title and subtitle. This was the strongest part of the book.

The second is the personal narrative of several American students at a California Sushi school. This latter narrative was interesting, but dissipated the forward-motion of the book, and I was not really sure that it belonged in the book at all. A stronger editor would have told Corson to ditch the latter narrative.

Still, it was fun.