Oishii: The History of Sushi

Sushi and sashimi are by now global sensations and have become perhaps the best-known of Japanese foods, but they are also the most widely misunderstood. Oishii: The History of Sushi reveals that sushi began as a fermented food with a sour taste, used as a means to preserve fish. This book, the first history of sushi in English, traces sushi’s development from China to Japan and then internationally, and its evolution from street food to high-class cuisine. Included are historical and original recipes that display the diversity of sushi and how to prepare it. An expert on Japanese food history, Eric C. Rath has written a must-read for understanding sushi’s past and how it became one of the world’s greatest cuisines.

About the Author :
Eric C. Rath is Professor of Premodern Japanese History at the University of Kansas. He is the author of Japan’s Cuisines: Food, Place and Identity (Reaktion Books, 2016) and Food and Fantasy in Early Modern Japan (2010).

Review :
Occupying a modest middle ground between cookbook and essay collection Rath's writing is light, unhampered by the weight of academia. He interjects personal asides, recalling tastes and experiences that add sparkle to his chronology of sushi. Ultimately, however it's the lesser-known sushi knowledge that singles out Oishii as a must-own for hungry minds and sushi fanatics alike. Oishii is extensively and well researched, using numerous sources from both historical and current data, and brims with fascinating and often amusing anecdotes told in a nonacademic, light writing style. If you crave the lesser-known, intriguing details of sushi's history, then this is a book that will feed your hungry mind. Those who wish to explore beyond the tuna-sake-avocado comfort zone and find out more about sushi should read Eric C Rath. The American food historian specialises in Japanese food culture and with Oishii has presented a vivid history of sushi. Informative, lovingly illustrated . . . Starting with the medieval period and moving into the contemporary era, this comprehensive and very readable volume is best accompanied with a plate of sushi (and perhaps some sake) nearby . . . Oishii means ‘delicious,’ and this describes the book from both a culinary and a visual perspective. The book is dotted with recipes, from the simple Five Lord’s Soup ("Finely dice pickled fish and meat on a cutting board. Add water and boil. Use this as the basis for soup stock.") to minnow sushi – for those with access to minnows, it’s ready to eat in one day – and how to select the right mackerel to avoid dried-out flesh. Complementing these are more contemporary recipes for home cooks, archival photographs and woodblock prints, and mouthwatering closeups of prepared sushi, making Oishii an enlightening treat for the senses. University of Kansas Professor Eric C. Rath has authored another significant contribution to the history of Japanese cuisine with Oishii: The History of Sushi. Written in a pleasing and accessible style, there is much to recommend it. The author provides a survey of sushi’s history from the earliest surviving references produced in Han dynasty China, to the cuisine’s proliferation in the twentieth century. Beautifully illustrated, Oishii also benefits from the inclusion of numerous recipes from historical cookbooks that bring to life the evolution of sushi as a cuisine . . . Well researched, informative, and a pleasure to read, Oishii is an excellent resource for food scholars, foodies, and anyone interested in the global phenomenon that is sushi. Without a doubt the most definitive book I have ever read on what is now one of the world’s most popular foods. Eric Rath’s Oishii is not only well written and packed with fascinating delicious information, but easy to read as well. It belongs on the bookshelf of any lover of good food. Deploying gorgeous visual material and exquisite detail from over a millennia of Chinese and Japanese written sources, Eric Rath historicizes, regionalizes and denationalizes the contested story of the birth and transformation of various kinds of sushi. He also shows how this modest dish went global as it acquired substantial cultural capital in the late twentieth century. A lucid and beautifully produced book. Oishii means “delicious” in Japanese, and this impressive book both nourishes and delights. Through prodigious research and recipes, Oishii carries us along sushi’s path from fermented fish to fresh. Rath’s narrative is revelatory as he traces sushi’s history in relation to culinary methodologies, nationalism, wartime rationing, global innovations, and more. Eric C. Rath’s smart, historically riveting, contemporarily grounded deconstruction of sushi kept me turning each page in anticipation of yet another fascinating fact on one of my most deeply loved foods. For chefs and food geeks, Oishii reveals a number of sushi methods heretofore not found in English and thus serves as an extremely valuable contribution to the landscape of Japanese food writing.