After revealing the secrets of chocolate, French graphic artist Franckie Alarcon explores the Art of Sushi. After noticing how the Japanese dish had exploded in his native France, Alarcon traveled to the land of the rising sun to research how sushi was meant to be. In his research Alarcon will learn about sushi from both a traditional viewpoint and the modernized method. The artist will venture out into the Pacific to gather seafood in order to experience the freshest sushi ever as well as trek into the mountains of Japan to witness the growth and harvesting of sushi's most underrated ingredient- rice!
It's been said that a sushi master does nothing but learn to make rice for the first 7 years of an apprenticeship. That seems to be more of a myth than anything else. Most of the sushi chefs in this book got their start cleaning bathrooms and floors the first couple of years of their education. In Japan, a master chef wouldn't dream of letting a newbie make the rice. It's too important and expensive as an ingredient to let an untrained eye muck it up. In Japan, once an apprentice is given the chance to serve customers, they practice towards the end of the shift on customers who are at the point of fullness and inebriation. That way, they aren't able to decipher if the student chef's food was edible or not!
As Alarcon learns more about sushi, he unfolds other underrated elements of sushi making. From how the right piece of pottery can reveal a lot about both the sushi chef and diner to the methods of brewing shoyu, soy sauce and sake, if Franckie Alarcon overlooked anything in the art of sushi, it was by accident for sure.
This look at sushi is more than just an exotic exploration. Alarcon examines the ways sushi has become domesticated by both dining with a Japanese couple in their home as well as visiting a pair of Michelin star sushi chefs in France. Oddly enough, it's at a farm in France where Alarcon learns about the development of sushi's most famous condiment: wasabi!
As to be expected with a graphic novel about cuisine, especially seafood, The Art of Sushi dips its toe into the choppy waters of ecology and sustainability. Clearly, the great flocks of the world's oceans have been over-fished. The dubious nature of farm raised seafood has proven to not be the answer to this problem. Most experts on food ecology would point to using plant-based substitutes as the solution. Ironically, Alcaron being a Frenchman has an answer to the problem that I've never thought of before: eat the highest quality seafood possible as a bigger price tag often means greater care has been given to the product.
A staggering fact about water conservation that just had to be shared: it takes 4000 liters of water to grow 2.2 pounds of rice! That's just insane. Needless to say, that's something I learned from this amazing culinary graphic novel that will be shared with my culinary students. Several recipes for sushi and accompaniments are included in this book as well as information on the restaurants featured and online shopping resources are included for the at home cook who wants to create sushi of their own for family and friends.
Completing this review completes Task #7 (About Food or Beverage) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.
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