The globalization of sushi: From street snack to gastronomic delicacy

From its origin as an economical means of preserving dried fish to its current ubiquitous presence in supermarkets and five-star restaurants, sushi presents a fascinating glimpse of the rise and fall (and rise again) of Japan's modern economy and the similarly wild ride of sushi's culinary centerpiece, the bluefin tuna. Sasha Issenberg's "The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy" is a great read for the student of global economics or a raw-fish fanatic who wishes to learn about the people, places and technologies that make up the popular phenomenon known as sushi.

The history of sushi is much like the food itself — simple, yet comprising gastronomic qualities of depth and subtlety; adaptable enough to satisfy finicky palates and consumer budgets ranging from fast-food to stratospheric levels.

From its origin as an economical means of preserving dried fish to its current ubiquitous presence in supermarkets and five-star restaurants, sushi presents a fascinating glimpse of the rise and fall (and rise again) of Japan's modern economy and the similarly wild ride of sushi's culinary centerpiece, the bluefin tuna.

Sasha Issenberg's "The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy" is a great read for the student of global economics or a raw-fish fanatic who wishes to learn about the people, places and technologies that make up the popular phenomenon known as sushi.

Sushi was widely employed in China as a way to preserve fish with fermented rice. Sometime around the seventh century A.D. it made its way into Japan, evolving into a meal in which rice and vinegar were combined to speed the fermenting process.

What we recognize today as modern sushi was created in the early 10th century by Hanaya Yohei, who used pieces of fresh fish on top of an oblong piece of sticky seasoned rice. Thus was born "nigiri sushi" (finger sushi). It was a popular snack food sold from street vendors — a Japanese version of fast food.

After World War II the street stalls were shut down by government health authorities, and sushi restaurants began to appear and flourish. Once a quick snack eaten on the run, it became a dining experience, overseen by specialized sushi chefs who, over time, took on an almost religious education in the art of preparing fresh fish.

Global mystique and the marketplace

Indeed, today's sushi chefs in Japan are part of an elaborate apprenticing system which can take as long as 10 years from the initial stage of menial kitchen tasks, through the preparation of rice and vegetables, and finally to the selection and cutting of fish. Sushi chefs own their own kitchen knives and tools, some of which are made by the descendants of the artisans who fashioned samauri swords.

As Japan's economy recovered and flourished in the aftermath of war, so did the fortunes of sushi and its revered chefs. Until then it was impossible to eat raw fish more than a few days' travel from the port where it landed, according to Issenberg. But, "in the 1950s, the development of long-distance boats — factory trawlers with onboard processing and freezing facilities — ensured that no fishing ground would ever be off-limits again."

Combined with the advancing technology of air travel and cold cargo storage, "By the mid 1970s, it was common for a bluefin caught in the Atlantic on a summer Sunday evening to be served for lunch in Tokyo on Wednesday." Such a simple yet exotic dish — the perfect diet food, high in protein and eaten in small portions — was fated to become a hit with what is probably the quintessential land of cosmopolitan trendiness and thin people: California, particularly Los Angeles.

Issenberg spends quite a few pages detailing sushi's entry into the Los Angeles cultural scene in the '70s and morphing into such variations as California rolls (rice wraps with avocado or other seasonal local vegetable), and its rapid-fire spread across the Western Hemisphere in the years to follow, as it became a cliché for yuppie lifestyle gastronomy.

Meanwhile, famous chefs were fanning out throughout the globe, each with their own brand of sushi "fusion" styles, and it wasn't long before sushi took on the local colors and flavors of many national cuisines.

Auctioneers and "tuna cowboys"

Yet, the keystone ingredient of a Japanese-style sushi plate — bluefin tuna — presents the most amazing global story in Issenberg's narrative. The author cites Harvard anthropologist Theodore Bestore, who has studied sushi supply chains and has this to say: "Even with radar, sonar, radio, and fish-finding technology, a fishing boat goes out and they don't know what they are going to catch … Seafood is inherently a risky thing; you can't count that just because there's a tuna today there will be tuna tomorrow."

And so the central story of "The Sushi Economy" is that of the fishermen who catch the elusive monster fish under challenging conditions; the innovative "tuna ranchers" of Australia; the historic system of fish auctions in Japan where buyers come to examine the fresh catches and there are no high-tech evaluating tools to substitute for touching, smelling and tasting the daily offerings; and the restaurant owners and sushi chefs who command the world's respect by adhering to the highest standards of their profession.

The sushi industry tells a decidedly different story about globalized food culture and commerce, the author asserts. "Those who point to the facelessness of the market, the might of cash triumphing over the intimacy of the handshake, would find much to admire in the character of the sushi trade," Issenberg writes. In fact, it is one of the last areas in which human beings remain hunter-gatherers.

Tuna in tomorrow?

While the author devotes many pages to the lore and culinary qualities of the bluefin tuna, he offers a surprisingly cursory view of the dangerous decline of the species worldwide. Issenberg describes the existence of "tuna pirates" operating throughout the world's oceans and seas, especially the Mediterranean, but even if every nation and individual fisherman adhered to global quotas and restrictions, the bluefin tuna is in serious trouble.

Longline nets are the downfall of fish throughout the world, and the bluefin is no exception. According to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the western north Atlantic bluefin tuna is the species "in the greatest danger of slipping into extinction."

ICCAT, the international commission that claims management authority over all tunas, marlin, swordfish and the other big fish of the Atlantic, says that four decades of overfishing has driven the bluefin to 3 percent of its 1960 (pre-longlining) abundance. Bluefin in other parts of the world are undergoing a similar fate. California roll, anyone?

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