Sushi Rolls History

Sushi Rolls History - As early as 500 B.C. , people living in the mountains of southeast Asia wrapped fish in rice as a means of pickling and fermenting. In Japan, alternating layers of carp and rice were placed in a covered jar and left for up to a year. During this time, the fermenting rice produced lactic acid, thus pickling the fish. When the jar was opened, the carp was eaten, but the rice was discarded.

A Japanese legend holds that a kindly husband and wife placed rice in an osprey nest. When they later checked on the bird, they found a fish nestled in the rice, which they took as a token of the bird's appreciation. As they ate the thank-you gift, they noted that the fermented rice had imparted a distinctive taste to the fish.

In the seventeenth century, the people of culinary-rich Edo (now Tokyo) began the practice of adding vinegar to the rice so that it would ferment in just a few days. Before long, sushi shops were popular sites on the streets of Tokyo. One of the earliest, Sas Maki Kenukesushi, opened in 1702 and was still in business at the turn of the twentieth century.

Although the Japanese have eaten seaweed, or nori, since the eighth century, it was not until the late seventeenth century that it was regularly cultivated in inlets and estuaries up and down that nation's coasts. The nori was harvested in December and January when it had reached its maturity. It was not an easy task because the nori disappeared during the summer months.

In the 1940s, a British scientist named Kathleen Drew-Baker began to investigate what happened to nori spores in the summer. Drew's studies were published in a paper in 1949, which concluded that nori spores burrow into the pores and crevices of seashells, where they grow into pink thread-like organisms. When the weather turns cold, the organisms detach themselves and then adhere to other surfaces where they grow to maturity.

After Drew's conclusions were published, the Japanese quickly developed a cultivating system and nori production increased ten-fold from 1950 to 1980. In 1963, nori farmers erected a bronze statue in Drew's honor overlooking the Bay of Shimbara. On April 14 of every year, a ceremony is enacted in which Drew's cap and gown are placed on the statue, a Union Jack is raised, and farmers placed a tribute of nori from the current crop at the statue's feet. (MadeHow)


See also:
Burger King
Hanamasa