A Chop, Dip, and a Roll
THE HISTORY OF SUSHI 2nd Century BC Despite many preconceptions, the origin of sushi actually dates back to the rice fields of Asia, in China specifically. Sushi traces back to the 3nd century BC, originally a Chinese dish called “narezushi”. It was made of fermented rice and salted fish. However, this dish was not created necessarily for flavor, it was more of a practical dish. Since the dish predates refrigerators, this process of wrapping the fish in rice was mainly for preservation purposes, heavily salted to avoid bacteria growth and microorganisms on the fish. In fact, the rice was typically thrown out when eating the fish.
NYC Museum of Food and Drink ~ November 8 ~ November 22
718 AD The first reference to “sushi” appeared in the Yoro Code, making its first appearance in Japanese culture. They took it upon themselves to begin eating the rice and the fish, making them accredited for first preparing sushi as a complete dish. Yoro Code is one iteration of seven different governing codes or rules established in the early Nala Period in Classical Japan. It was put into effect in 757. 800-1300 AD Narezushi is only available to the wealthy upperclass in Japan since the fermentation process, even with a weighted press to speed up the completion time, took about half a year. Additionally, many Japanese’s transition into Buddhism resulted in the dietary practice of abstaining from eating meat, making this dish high in demand. The common go to fish in narezushi was Golden Carp, also known as funa, caught in Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest freshwater lake. 1400 AD Japan in the midst of a civil war searched desperately for a way to speed up the sushi fermentation process. They found that applying more weight to the press could shorten the fermentation process to one month. From this they discovered that pickled fish did not need to reach full fermentation to taste great. This new method meant a new name for the dish, now called mam-nare zushi or nare-zushi. 24
