Sushi, seriously my favorite food of all time!  All my favorite foods in one little roll, what isn’t to like?  Thursday June 18^th, we take the day to celebrate this amazing Japanese dish. So raise your chopsticks and give this great dish a hand, it has come a long way in the past couple years.

Sushi has been around for centuries, but just in the past couple years it has really taken off in America. You’ll still find lots of people who still stick up their nose to this great dish, but most people just don’t take the time to understand this delicate dish.

Let us take a step back, how did this dish even come about? It all started in Southeast Asia in China before being introduced to china, around the 8^th century, when fishermen would preserve the fish in fermented rice. This technique is called Narezushi, the fisherman would gut the fish and let the fish ferment in the wrapped rice for months. Then the rice was removed discarded and the fish was consumed for the protein.

The Japanese created another version of sushi, namanare or namanari, because they enjoyed eating their fish with rice. They would take a piece of fish and somewhat wrap it in rice then would eat the piece of sushi.

Lastly a sushi called haya-zushi was created, when a combination of rice, fish vegetables and other ingredients were added. This is the most popular sushi known today and recipes are passed down from generation to generation in Japanese families.

Then in the 19^th century mobile food stalls and vendors became popular in Edo or now Tokyo. Nirgiri Sushi was introduced; this is when a thick blanket of fish is laid across a clump or rice. This technique quickly spread when sushi chefs were scattered thru Edo after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.

Love sushi; don’t forget to check out the great documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. The award-winning documentary follows around Jiro Ono, a world-renowned sushi chef of Sukiyabashi Jiro. The documentary is available Netflix DVD and available to rent on Amazon Instant Movie.

Get out there and get your sushi, no matter if it’s a lunch break with friends, dinner with the mate or take-out sushi on the couch! Just grab those chopsticks and eat up! Also, don’t forget to signup for those sushi classes!

Want to know what is going on over in Pittsburgh check out BuzzNTheBurgh.com/International-Sushi-Day.

Don’t forget to share those pictures on Instagram #InternationalSushiDay!