Omakase sap

RIINA KINDLAM

You might have heard of omakase sushi. Omakase is a Japanese phrase, used when ordering sushi in restaurants, which means “I’ll leave it up to you”, from the jaapani/keelne “to entrust”.

The Michelin Guide writes: “Few formal dining experiences are as revered or as intimidating as omakase, a form of Japanese dining in which guests leave themselves in the hands of a chef and receive a meal which is seasonal, elegant, artistic and uses the finest ingredients available.”

Wikipedia adds: “In the U.S., omakase usually refers to an extended sushi dinner, ideally eaten at the sushi counter, where the chef prepares one piece of fish at a time, announces its name and origin, answers your questions, and guesses what else you might enjoy and how much more you’d like to eat.” It’s a suhteliselt (relatively) new tradition that began in the 1990s.

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Mihkli talu (farm’s) old faithful mahla/kask (sap birch). Life blood in Estonian is elu/mahl (“life juice”, sap) and this birch is a mahla/annetaja, sap donor. Birch water is believed to cleanse and invigorate the winter-weary body (puhastab ja kosutab).

Foto: Katrin Mandel