Trevor Corson Op Ed

In The Zen of Fish Trevor Corson talks a lot about what American sushi eaters could learn if they would sit at the sushi bar and talk to the chef. Today he emphasized that such a collaboration would not only result in better adventures in eating, but also offer a way to reduce the demand for now-rare types of tuna, which Americans think are the pinnacle of sushi. Corson's Op Ed reminds the readers that in fact, the Japanese only developed a taste for tuna, especially the fattier varieties, in the last 40 or 50 years, and originally enjoyed a wider variety of leaner fish.

A quote from Sushi for Two by the author of The Zen of Fish, in today's New York Times:

"I suggest that customers refuse to sit at a table or look at a menu. We should sit at the bar and ask the chef questions about everything — what he wants to make us and how we should eat it. We should agree to turn our backs on our American addictions to tuna (for starters, try mackerel), globs of fake wasabi (let the chef add the appropriate amount), gallons of soy sauce (let the chef season the sushi if it needs seasoning) and chopsticks (use your fingers so the chef can pack the sushi loosely, as he would in Japan). Diners will be amazed at how following these simple rules can make a sushi chef your friend, and take you on new adventures in taste.

"In return, the chefs, be they Japanese or not, must honor the sushi tradition and make the effort to educate us — no more stoicism. They must also be willing to have a candid conversation about the budget before the meal; it’s the only way American diners will be willing to surrender to the chef’s suggestions. Sushi should never be cheap, but it also should never be exorbitant, because that makes it impossible to create a clientele of regulars.

"Fraternizing with the chef may be a tough habit for Americans to take up. But we’ve had sushi here now for four decades, and it’s time for a change — both for our sake, and for the sake of the embattled tuna. Let the conversation across the sushi bar begin."